The Trails Blazed
by Alwaysthe3rdParty
Summary: REVISED AND EDITED. Two best friends traveling together, making memories and enemies. These are the paths they took, and the trails they blazed.
1. A small note

**Hello, some of you might remember this story from a while back. I read through it one day and decided to revise it a bit. It's still the same story, but it fits the sequel better. I would appreciate any reviews to further advance my writing skills. Thanks.**


	2. Meeting Strangers! Old Friends!

The sun was shining on the route to Pewter City. A flock of Pidgey's flew overhead, chirping to their hearts' content. A swarm of Beedrill buzzed along, accompanied by other bug Pokémon. A Magikarp jumped in the stream, its scales gleaming in the sunlight. All was peaceful, until the Magikarp got hit by a rock.

"I got another one!" the thrower cheered, "My aim's getting better!"

"Unlike the time you threw a rock into the Beedrills' nest?" his companion remarked, "I still have nightmares about that swarm."

"What are we doing here again, Joe?"

"Waiting to rip off a beginner trainer's Pokémon. Our Admin said that every little bit helps nowadays."

Joe shifted his position against the tree. Sweat dripped off his brow. "Man, these uniforms are warm," he commented, taking off his hat and running his hand through his dark brown hair, "See anything, Dan?"

"No, not yet," his red haired companion replied, tightening his red scarf, which matched the red R on his black uniform. He never wore his hat, complaining that it hid his hazel eyes. Most people couldn't even see Joe's green eyes. Dan spotted something.

"I think there's someone coming, Joe!"Joe got up and they both observed the trail. Sure enough, a Growlithe wearing a green bandana came, nosing up the path.

"Blaze!" a girl's voice called, "Wait up! I'm tired!"

"Ugh, a nickname," Dan commented, "Probably a coordinator by the looks of her. Hey, she's kind of hot!"

"Don't even think about it, Dan. You're too old for her."

"What? I'm only 17!"

"And by the looks of her, I'd say that she's no older than 14.

"Why don't we ambush her and see?" Joe smiled and they both got into position.

The girl dragged her feet. She wore a tired expression in her blue eyes. She tucked a strand of blond hair behind a headband, which kept her long fizzy hair out of her face. The Growlithe looked backed once and a while to make sure that she still was behind him. He paused, sniffing the air, raised his hackles, and growled.

"What is it this time?" she asked, "It better not be John trying to scare us again!"

"There's no time like the present," Dan stated, "Let's go!" He jumped out into the open before Joe could object.

_Always jumping and never thinking, _he thought_, Oh well._

He soon joined Dan. The Growlithe growled even fiercer.

"Oh hush up, Pup!" Dan reprimanded, "What's a hot chick like you doing alone in this place? It's full of dangers, like us." The girl wore a confused expression.

"Uh, what do you two want?"

"Hand over your Pokémon, cutie. Then maybe later we can light each other's fire."

Joe elbowed him. "Just do the motto and stop hitting on the victim!"

"Right!"

"If you're looking for trouble," Joe began.

"Then you just made it doubled!" Dan cut in, each of them switching lines.

"To inflict the world with devastation…"

"To spread chaos across creation…!"

"To destroy the forces of truth and love…"

"To envelope the stars above…!"

"Dan!" the red head exclaimed.

"Joe," the other calmly stated.

"Team Rocket blasts you at the speed of light!"

They both joined in on the last line. "So surrender now, 'cause you won't win this fight!"

"Huh, that's right!"Dan finished, striking up a pose. Joe just stood there, with his arms crossed.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Oh-kay, I'll just be going now." The Growlithe stopped growling and followed her as she walked past them.

"Hey, wait a minute! Don't you dare ignore us!" Dan stated, "Give us your Pokémon!" He grabbed her arm. What he didn't expect was for her to kick him in the shin. He let go of her, howling, "Ow, my shin!" She continued on, her Growlithe seeming to smirk at him. Joe held in a laugh and sighed; this wasn't going to end well. Dan lost his temper.

"That's it! I don't care if you're cute! We challenge you to a two-on-two battle!"

"Who said anything about us?" Joe asked, "Fine, I guess I'll battle."

"Muk, go!"

"Come on out, Cacturne."

The girl just smirked. "Okay, if it's a battle you want. Blaze, Snapdragon, you're up!"Snapdragon ended up being a Bulbasaur.

"Yeah, look at the mighty dragon," Dan teased, "I'll take care of him while you take care of that pup of hers!"

"Oh sure, give me the fire type," Joe sourly noted, "Cacturne, Pin Missile!"

"Muk, sludge bomb!"

"Blaze, dodge using Quick Attack! Snap, Vine Whip!"

"I seriously doubt that Vine Whip can stop his attack," Dan bragged, "Wait, wha-?" Instead of trying to deflect one of them at a time, Snap defended himself, swinging his vines around, the sludge bouncing off.

Before Joe could react, the Growlithe was in close to range to Cacturne. "Needle Arm!" He turned, but the Growlithe dodged, appeared behind him, and hit him, without his trainer giving him any commands. Cacturne got pushed in between Snap and Muck, causing him to be pelted by sludge bombs from both sides, knocking him out. "Cacturne, return."

"Joe, you aren't going to leave me to battle by myself!"

"Yes, I am. You were the one who started it. Speaking of, Bulbasaur just Leech Seeded Muk."

"Gah! Muk, Poison Gas!"

"Blaze, Flamethrower!" Blaze jumped in front of Snap and let loose a Flamethrower. It cut through the gas and hit Muk square on.

"Aw, no Muk!" The blob collapsed. Dan recalled him to his Poke ball.

"Snapdragon, good job! You deserve a rest." Snap nodded before being recalled.

Blaze barked happily and returned to receive a scratch behind the ears by his trainer. "Now I have to go," she said, "But thanks for the battle experience."

"Wait!" Dan shouted, "You think we're just going to let you get away with that?"

"Yeah, I do." Dan rushed in front of her, blocking her way.

"How old are you?"

"15."

"What's your name?"

"Lily Kline."

"As in Charlie "Canine" Kline?"

"He's my dad." Dan eagerly rubbed his hands together."I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not worth that much money."

"Who said anything about money? I was thinking more of… a date."

"Go get eaten by a Gyarados! C'mon Blaze, we can get to Pewter by nightfall and meet Ty." Lily and Blaze walked on.

"You got burned," Joe commented, "How are you going to tell our Admin that because of your hormones we botched another job and got beaten by a beginning trainer?"

"I don't know!" He threw a rock. A Gyarados with a bump on its head popped up, firing up its Hyper Beam. Joe had already gotten out of sight, leaving Dan to be blasted. He landed in a Beedrill's nest. Joe sweat-dropped, sighed, and got out the medical kit.

"3… 2… 1…" Dan screamed and ran for his life. "What would he do without me?" Joe mused, "He'd probably walk off a cliff."

Lily nearly collapsed by the time she arrived at the Pewter Pokémon Center. She entered the Center and fell at the desk, placing two Poke balls and Blaze on top of it."Are you alright?" Nurse Joy asked, "I assume you want your Pokémon healed."

"Yes, please."

"Are you a beginner?"

"Yes, I am. My dad was a trainer and my mom was a coordinator."

"Oh my, which one did you choose?"

"Neither, I chose to be a breeder!"

"Well, that works. Where are you from?"

"Pallet Town, in fact, I left there just yesterday!"

"How did you get all the way to Pewter without going through Viridian?"

"I… accidently went around it."

"In that case, you must really be tired. Do you need to register for a room?"

"No, I think my friend has one already. His name is Tyler M-i-y-a-m-a-t-o."

"Tyler Miyamoto, correct?"

"That's right, My Tomato. Drat, I've been friends with guy most of my life and I still can't get his last name right!"

"He's at the Gym right now, but I'll send him a message letting him know that you're here."

Chansey came back with Blaze and the Poke balls. "Thank you, feeling better Blaze?" He barked and nodded. "Might as well freshen up! C'mon Blaze, let's go!" He eagerly followed her.

Lily dried her hair from taking a shower. "Ah, that feels good!" she noted, "I wonder if Ty got the message?" She found her clothes neatly folded and washed, and put them on. She sat on the bed. Blaze jumped up and got on her lap. She petted him, making him croon. "Let's let the others out," she suggested, "Snapdragon, Zenith, come on out!" Snapdragon got on the bed and went to her side. The Pidgey, Zenith, went to the other side and cooed, "Guys, and girl, I only have two hands! I can't pet you all at once! Hey Snap, do you think you can get my backpack for me?" He did so using Vine Whip.

She unzipped it. "Here you go, Zenith. Welcome to the team!" She put a green band on her wing. Zenith admired it.

"Bulba!"

"You want one too?"

"Bulba!"

She took out a green work out band and put it on his head. Blaze and Zenith had both drifted off to sleep. "Hm, must be tired. Do you want to stay up with me and wait for Ty?" Snap nodded. "You'll like him. He's really nice, but he can be a little quiet. He's been to every region except Sinnoh. He does reviews of gyms for _The Pokémon Times_, which is why he's making another round through Kanto even though he collected all the badges already. He's known as the Strategist and for a very good reason too."

"Onix, Rock Slide!

"Blastoise, dodge and use Hydro Cannon!"

Both Pokémon followed their orders, but the Blastoise managed to hit the Onix with a full blast. The Onix fell. "And the winner is Tyler Miyamato, the Strategist!"

"Well done Onix, return!"

"Great job, Blastoise! Take a nice long rest!" Both Pokémon were recalled.

"Good battle, Tyler!"

"Thank you, sir. Do you mind if I interview you?"

"Not at all! We'll just step into my office!" He gave him a hardy pat on the back, making the boy feel pain. The light-brown haired, brown-eyed 16 year old boy followed the gym leader.

"I'm impressed with your battling skills, Tyler. But it's hard to believe that I've fought you before. Didn't you lose before?"

"I had to battle you twice along with Sabrina and Koga."

"Sabrina's hard. Hopefully you have a Ghost Type."

"I have a Haunter that should be evolving soon."

"I like a man who thinks ahead!"

"Thank you, sir."

They entered the office. Flint sat at his desk while Tyler pulled up a chair, got out his laptop, and opened a new file.

"You're from Pallet Town, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Do you know Ash Ketchum?"

"Yes sir. I met your son Brock when they stopped by once. How long have you been a gym leader?"

"For a while now, ever since my son left."

The video phone went off in his house. "I'll get it!" a kid shouted.

"No, me!"

"Let go!"

"Children, somebody just get it!" Flint shouted, "Sorry, those are my kids."

"Sir, may we continue?"

"Of course, and you don't have to be so polite! Call me Flint, everybody else does!"

"My friends call me Ty. So anyways, tell me a little about yourself."

"Well I…" A boy stood in the door way. "What is it?"

"That was Nurse Joy. She said to tell Tyler Miyamato that Lily Kline has arrived at the Center."

"That was fast. Can we finish up? Lil will be expecting me."

"Sure, Ty. Wait, Kline as in Canine Kline?"

"Yeah, he's Lily's father. She's just beginning. She wasn't ready to leave with me when I began, so she's joining me now."

"Sounds like a good deal."

After the interview, Tyler packed up his laptop. "Goodbye Flint! And thanks for the battle!"

"Any time Ty, any time!" He walked towards the Pokémon Center.

"Hey!"

Tyler looked behind him to see his self proclaimed rival, John McIntyre come running to him. "Go away, John! I don't want to battle right now!"

"Who said anything about you? I've been trailing Lily for a couple of days."

"She doesn't like you."

"Nah, she's just playing hard to get!"

"Sure, whatever you say. But she just left yesterday!"

"She never showed up in Viridian!"

"Stop following me John!"

When Tyler arrived, Lily was finishing up a chat with her parents. "Love you guys."

"Love you too, sweetie. Tell Tyler that is parents say hi." She turned it off.

"Ty!" she exclaimed, nearly tackling him, "How'd the battle go?"

"I won. Now can you let go? You're squeezing the air out of my lungs!" She let him go from her bear hug.

"Sorry. I guess we head to Cerulean tomorrow."

"Yeah, we will. John said that you never showed up in Viridian."

"I missed it."

"How do you miss a city that size?"

"I don't know! I also got ambushed by a couple of Rockets."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I gave them a sound beating. I already reported it to Jenny. I think one of them likes me, a red head named Dan. Wait, John's here?"

He popped out of nowhere. "Miss me, baby?" He received her fist in his face. "Pain is good," he sighed, "Ah, it's true love!"

Blaze barked, wanting to lick Tyler. "Hey Blaze, how are you doing boy?" He wagged his tail and gave him a lick.

"I got two new Pokémon! They're Snapdragon and Zenith." They shyly observed Tyler. "How'd you get a Bulbasaur?"

"Professor Oak gave him to me. He was left over from the new trainers. He didn't want him to be lonely."

"I assume you caught this Pidgey. He's beautiful."

"She, it's a girl."

"Oh, sorry Zenith." "Come on, let's go get dinner!" They ended the day with a nice meal and hit the sack early, since they were planning on leaving early the next morning.

"Night Ty."

"Good night, Lil." They both fell asleep.


	3. Traveling Trivials

_Thoughts_

Tyler woke up. He stretched, nearly knocking his hat off the headboard. He trudged to the bathroom. After freshening up, he noticed that Lily was still asleep. Zenith, being a Pidgey, perched on the empty top bunk. Snap snoozed comfortably on the floor, and Blaze had curled himself up at Lily's feet.

_I would do that with my Pokémon, but Blastoise would roll over and squish me. He sometimes forgets that he's not a Squirtle anymore._ He shook Lily, who just grumbled and buried herself under the sheets. He noted this strange behavior, seeing that she had always been an early bird. _The journey yesterday must've wiped her out, but we've got to keep moving to spend as little time as possible between towns._

"Blastoise, water gun!"

She felt water wash onto her face. She sprang up and hit her head on the top bunk. Zenith squawked in surprise, unhappy that she had been disturbed. Lily accidently flung Blaze off the covers and nearly stepped on Snap.

"I'm going to kill you! Fury Swipes!" She playfully wiped at him.

"Tackle!" He knocked her onto the bed. Her Pokémon just glanced at each other, not knowing what to think of their trainer's behavior. Blaze just shrugged and padded out of the room. Lily got off the bed, laughing her head off. Tyler grabbed his hat and put it on.

"You and that stupid hat!"

"Hey, all respectful trainers wear hats like this! You have your stupid head band."

"It's not stupid! My bangs would get in my way if I didn't pull them back. Your article just messes up your hair." Blastoise, not wanting to be deprived of attention, rubbed his nose against Lily.

"Hey Blast, it's been a while since I've seen you. Have you been taking care of Ty?" He nodded. She stroked his big nose, making him let out a long mmhm noise. Ty recalled the Pokémon.

"Let's grab a bite to eat and get going. It shouldn't take us very long to get there if we hurry."

"Alright, come on guys. Captain Ty has ordered us to march." Her Pokémon grumbled, still sleepy. Zenith perched on her shoulder while Blaze and Snap flanked her sides. The two friends and passel of Pokémon left the Center, heading towards Cerulean.

Dan groaned after John had kicked him in the side to wake him up. He sat up, having fallen asleep in a cardboard box. _Man, this life is rough! We can't even get a decent place to sleep!_ He ran his hand through his hair. It sprang up, like he liked it.

"Where are we going next, back to Viridian?"

"No, we're getting a newspaper and planning our next move." He picked up a paper from a nearby stand, being careful not to get spotted.

"Hm, the Strategist is back in the Kanto region."

"It's about time! I want to challenge him!"

"You want to challenge everybody, Dan. That's why we never got anything done, because of your ego."

"At least I show passion about battling. You didn't even try! Why do you have to be so… Stoic?"

"It's in my nature. Nobody even knows who the Strategist is. I guess so he can be the mystery battler." Joe's gear went off. He sighed and answered it.

"Hello, Joe here. No, we didn't get any Pokémon. Only one trainer came by but Hothead Dan challenged her to a battle when she kicked him in the shin. She gave us a sound beating with her Growlithe and Bulbasaur. Her name? Lily Kline, of the "Canine" Kline clan, his daughter in fact. Yeah, I'm reading it right now. Oh, I haven't read the last paragraph yet." He glanced over it.

"So you want us to follow this kid and record his battles so the Boss can see them? Understood, no Pokémon snatching. They will never realize we're there. Joe out." He hung up. Dan, not very good at figuring out one sided conversations, looked at him with a curious look.

"So, what's our mission now?"

"The Strategist just revealed himself. He's a 16 yr old by the name of Tyler Miyamato. And remember the girl yesterday? She's his best friend. They're traveling across the region together."

"You mean we'll be stalking her?"

"No, we're not stalking. We're keeping tabs."

"Yahoo! I get to stalk my true love!"

"…Sure, whatever."

"Ty, slow down! We have plenty of time, Cerulean will still be there if we stop to rest!" Ty reluctantly slowed down and allowed her and her Pokémon to catch up. They were out of breath, seeing that Lily probably wasn't in the best shape and Blaze had to take four steps to equal one human sized step. Snapdragon was still basically a hatchling and Zenith had been flying against the wind."I'll cook us lunch, seeing that you can't even fix a bowl of cereal."

"How was I supposed to know that it was condensed milk? It looked like regular milk!" Snap and Zenith looked to Blaze as if expecting an answer. He shrugged.

Lily prepared a delicious stew for her and Ty. She also prepared some her home made Pokémon food. Needless to say, most of his Pokémon were ecstatic.

Haunter gobbled it down, anxious to finally have some good tasting food. Snorlax wanted more, even having gulped down three blows already. Typhlosion quietly ate his food, admiring it until he somehow bit his own paw. Salamence sighed, finally getting a meal fit for a warrior of his standard. Scyther seemed to be the only one not enjoying his meal. He ate a little, and then moved it aside. Blastoise looked at him questioningly. Scyther expressed his displeasure of stopping so often and how Lily would be a great distraction to Ty, thus they would lose more battles and precious training time. Blastoise rolled his eyes at him.

"This is delicious! I haven't eaten like this in ages! Can I have some more?" Lily served Ty another bowlful.

"What did you ever do without me? You can't cook to save your life!"

"Why do you think I tried to get to the towns quickly?"

"I thought you were just trying to keep up with the deadlines. You are looking a bit scrawny though. I've got to put some meat on you, you're skinnier than me!"

"Am not!"

"Yes, you are! Now eat!" He quickly did.

"Okay, time to go!"

"Wait just a second, Mr. My Tomato…"

"Miyamato."

"You've got to help me clean up!"

"Aw, but Mom…"

"No buts from you Ty."

After cleaning up, Ty recalled all his Pokémon and they headed out. Lily kept her Pokémon out, but had to carry Snap. He had fallen asleep after lunch and there was no way to wake him up. Both trainers were silent for awhile, not really having anything to talk about.

"Which Pokémon are you going to use?"

"Haunter, Scyther, and Salamence seem like good choices. Typhlosion has enough trouble battling on solid ground, so I don't even want to chance it on a water field. Blastoise needs a break, and Snorlax is simply just too heavy."

"You've got this planned down to a T. No wonder you beat everyone at Chess! You've even beat Professor Oak a couple of times!"

"That was nothing."

"Ty, you're too modest. Are you sure it was wise to finally reveal your identity as the Strategist?"

"If anybody challenges me, I can decline, especially after a gym battle."

"It's not other trainers I'm worried about. Haven't you hears the news?" Ty shook his head.

"Team Rocket's at it again. They're in a recruiting frenzy."

"So, it's not like I'll join them!"

"There's also been an increase in kidnappings. Who says you would have any choice?"

"It's you who should be careful. You already met two of them."

"I can handle them. Besides, that was probably a onetime meeting."

"Hopefully it was. How are your parents?"

"They're doing great! Mom didn't want me to go, but Dad convinced her otherwise. Mom offered me Amber, but I told her that I would be fine with Blaze. She just doesn't realize how not inconspicuous a Ribbon wining Ninetails is. Taking Miles was never an option. Dad's been taking him to engagements. It's been doing that Mightyena some good. Suddenly everybody wants to talk to the Canine Pokémon expert. Maybe it's because they discovered two more Eeveelutions in Sinnoh." They approached Cerulean City.

"Finally!" Ty exclaimed, "Let's go see if the gym leader's there!" They walked by it, to find the doors wide open. Both went in to find two mysterious people in there. Blaze once again raised his hackles and growled.

"Dan and Joe?" Ty asked.

"No, one's definitely a lady. I don't recognize them."

"It wouldn't' hurt to ask. Hey! Excuse me but is Misty here?" The man and women turned around, spilling out a bag full of Poke balls. They sheepishly smiled and tried to put them back in.

"Hey, they're robbing the Gym! Blaze, you're up." Blaze jumped in front of her, daring the two thieves to do anything about it. Snap hid behind her leg, while Zenith remained perched on her shoulder. Ty had run off to find Officer Jenny.

"Our cover's been blown!" the man noted, "All by a twerp!"

"Who cares? She's only one person. Let's just battle her and get out of her! You'll regret messing with us little girl!" The two threw off their disguises.

"Prepare for trouble…"

"… And make it double."

"Blaze, Flamethrower!" They were surrounded by fire.

"Hey, we weren't finished yet!"

"Now I recognize you. You're Cassidy and… that guy, Biff or something like that."

"It's Butch, Butch, Butch! If you had let us finish our motto, you would've known that!"

"Zenith, if you would, use Gust to blow them away." She launched off her shoulder and used blowing them out of the Gym and sending them flying.

"We're blasting off just like those losers!" About that time, Ty ran in with Officer Jenny and Misty. She quickly picked up the Poke balls and sighed.

"I go for a little alone time and somebody robs the place. Thanks for stopping them. I'll be ready in a moment, Ty."

"Take your time, Misty. I'm not in a hurry."

"Since when?" Lily huffed, "If anybody needs me, I'll be napping over here." She laid down on the bleachers and fell asleep.

"Gym leader Misty is unable to battle! Tyler Miyamato of Pallet Town wins!" Misty recalled her Gyarados while Scyther did a little victory dance. Ty smirked and recalled him. They shook hands.

"How about an interview, Misty?"

"Sure. Again I want to thank you for helping with Team Rocket."

"Thank Lily. She blew them away."

"I'll do that later. Let's get the interview done first." They left Lily and her Pokémon snuggled together, exhausted after the long journey.

**Sorry, this was mostly dialog. I'm not good a writing battles, so suggestions are very welcome.**


	4. One in a Vermillion

This time, they took a couple of days to travel since one day trips wore Lily and her Pokémon too much. They had almost reached Vermillion when trouble began. Word had gotten around that Ty was coming, so it seemed like everyone in Vermillion wanted to challenge him. They ran for the safety of the Center, but not before a bunch of girls somehow got a hold of Blaze, commenting on how cute and adorable he was. Ty took the opportunity to sneak in.

"Are you a coordinator?"

"No, I'm a breeder."

"Could you show us some moves?"

"Sure!" _Anything to help Ty relax._ Everybody gave them room.

The display ended. Everybody clapped and cheered. Lily and Blaze took a tiny bow. A loud clearing of the throat from somebody interrupt the applause.

"Pfft, contests are for sissies!" Everybody cleared the way for a though looking, crass man.

"And you would be?"

"Lt. Surge, leader of the Vermillion Gym, electric Pokémon master!"

"Uh, hi. I'm not really a contest person. I just practice those kind of moves to keep my Pokémon in shape, and you would be amazed how contest moves help in battles. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if the Strategist wanted to battle me."

"Don't trainers usually come to you?"

"Well, the crowds gathering around might make it hard for him to come to me."

"I'll go get Ty. For all I know, he's asleep. Blaze, you stay out here." She rushed in. Blaze stared at Lt. Surge, wondering if he was going to pet him, like everybody else had.

"What do you want?" He barked, wagging his tail. "Stop staring at me, you dumb mutt!" Blaze growled slightly and moved closer to him. "Go chase a Meowth or something!" He shook his head and sat down. He looked into Surge's eyes, hoping he suddenly developed mind controlling powers. Instead, Surge just moved him with his foot, which Blaze nipped."Ow! Raichu, blast that mutt!"

Lily came out, dragging Ty, literally. She found scorch marks and a worn out Blaze on top of an unconscious Raichu. Blaze barked and wagged his tail, very happy to see his trainer.

"What happened?" she asked Surge, "Why did you attack him?'

"He nipped my foot!"

"He probably thought you were going to kick him! He hates getting kicked."

"Raichu, return." ZAP! Blaze went over to Lily, giving Surge a nasty look. Surge was taken rather aback, never having received that look from a Pokémon before.

"Poor Blaze, was the big mean gym leader picking on you?" He happily wagged his tail. Surge coughed a little and held something out to her.

"Here kid, good job on beating my Raichu." He dropped the badge into her hand.

"Uh… thanks? I didn't even see it!" He completely ignored her and went for his real target, Ty. Ty immediately snapped to attention.

"I assume you're Lt. Surge, sir. I'm Tyler Miyamato, also known as the Strategist. I was going to come to you later, but apparently you came to me. You must want to battle me badly."

"There's a huge crowd blocking the way. Everybody wants to battle you, you hotshot!"

"I'm not a hotshot, sir. If anyone's a hotshot, it's you, respectfully sir!"

"I like a boy who knows how to respect their betters, unlike other people." He gave him a hardy pat on the back while glaring at Lily, who just glared back. He walked away, ego hurt that his mighty Raichu got beaten by some breeder's Growlithe. Lily looked at the badge in her hand._ Um, I got the Thunder Badge?_ She looked at again. A second later, it went flying through the air and hit Lt. Surge in the head.

Dan, who had been watching in the shadows, sighed dreamingly. Joe rolled his eyes while wringing out clothes that his partner had managed to knock into the river, along with half of their supplies. Finally, Dan spoke.

"Isn't she great?"

"She does seem to grasp the concept of appeals. She probably just needs more experience in the battling area. You know, we really need footage of the boy's gym battle. We missed the one in Cerulean. Which town is next?"

"I dunno. It's been awhile since I've seen a map. How are we going to get supplies?"

"We'll disguise ourselves and steal from the local Mart then get out of sight."

"Sounds good, do we have any food?" Both of their stomachs growled.

"Remember? You knocked it into the river when you discovered a Weedle in it."

"Oh, sorry. You know bug types creep me out. What's he doing here?" Dan pointed to John, who had just arrived in town, "If there's anything I hate, it's love triangles!" Joe just groaned.

_If there's anything I hate, it's non-existent love triangles!_

Lily had run to the Mart, seeing that she was low on medical supplies, taking Blaze with her, and leaving Ty alone to train. He had the tough decision of choosing which Pokémon to use (though he probably could beat Surge with one). He rubbed his chin.

"Which one? We need ones that can handle Electric attacks. Well, Snorlax has good insulation, Sycther could out maneuver his Raichu, and Salamence is well grounded. I'll go with you three." Snorlax and Salamence both nodded, while Sycther crossed his arms and huffed. Ty was taken aback by his usually belligerent Pokemon's lack of enthusiasm.

"What is it this time? You're usually the first one to volunteer." He pointed to Typholsion, who was in fact, drooling over a picture of a shoe.

"Fine, if you won't battle, then I'll take him."

"I hope Lily's alright. Yeah of course she is. The chances of her getting into trouble are one in a million!" _Oh boy, now I'm really worried!_ "Okay guys, let's get started!"

Lily recalled Zenith and Snapdragon into their balls before entering the Mart. She rattled on the list while getting a basket. Blaze followed her in, knowing that she wasn't paying attention to anything else. A couple of people entered the store. His instincts set off and he started barking at them.

"Shadup!" the red head exclaimed, "You're going to blow our cover!"

"Cool it!" his companion chided, "I won't let your temper ruin this scheme too!"

"Blaze!" Lily called, "Please keep up! I don't want to lose you!" He looked at the two before running to her location. They approached the counter. The clerk looked up and smiled.

"What can I do for you boys?"

"We need supplied, but we're short on cash," the dark hair one explained, "We were hoping for some free samples."

"Sorry but I can't—" Dan removed a plastic gun (not obvious to the poor clerk) from his jacket and pointed it at him.

"I believe you can help us." Once people noticed what was going one up front, they ran out of the store, almost everyone. Lily and Blaze were attempting to get an unfortunate person out of the freezer. Eventually, the freezer opened and Blaze and she pulled him out. Someone behind them cleared their throat. She instantly recognized Joe and his Cacturne.

"Are you two stalking me?"

"Hmph, don't flatter yourself kid. We just happened to be in the same place you were." Lily peeked over his shoulder to see the frightened clerk putting supplies (mainly food) into a duffle bag. She spied Dan holding a fake gun, and recognized it as so.

"Hey clerk, it's a-"

"Cacturne, pin missile." They barely missed her. Blaze stepped in front of her, growling and ready to attack. Joe snickered and Cacturne moved over to the employee, holding Pin missile at his head. "Better keep that mutt of yours on a leash, or the defrosting Popsicle man gets it."

"Blaze, back off." He hesitantly did so, knowing that the employee was in danger if he did not.

"Now let's go before the police arrive, all of us."

"Me too?" the freezer guy asked.

"Why not? Cacturne likes you." The guy nervously chuckled. Dan picked up the duffle and shooed the clerk away. He came over.

"Hey cutie, what were the chances of you being here?"

"One in a million."

"Don't you mean one in a Vermillion? Heh heh." Joe rolled his eyes and ordered this Cacturne to get the guy. "I'll get the girl," Dan stated, grabbing her hand, "Hey look, we're…" She kicked him in the shin, making him let go. Blaze jumped in between them, growling. Dan grabbed his bandana. "What are you going to do now?" Blaze bit him. Joe sighed.

"Let's just leave them. You're going to flirt with her and insist on taking her with us."

"Why can't we?"

"Dan…"

"Fine. So long, rose bud!" They both left the store before the police arrived. The employee looked relieved. Lily left him to do the explaining.

_They are so weird. I can read Dan like a book, but Joe is a different story…_

She found Ty in the cafeteria of the Center, exhausted. She got dinner, fed her Pokémon and sat across from him. He almost drifted off into his food.

"Hard training session?

"Typhlosion accidently set a water fountain on fire."

"How'd he manage that?"

"Don't ask. Anything exciting happen at the Mart?"

"Oh, I just got held up by Dan and Joe. At least they didn't do their motto."

"Sounds fun."

"Yeah, loads of it. At least John isn't here. I can handle one guy, but I don't know about two."

"Don't I count?"

"You're my best friend. Besides, you have a crush on Erika." He blushed.

"She is a good trainer."

"Her gym is next in line. You get to interview her personally."

"Don't mention it! I get Butterfrees just thinking about it!"

"It's alright. She's better than Sabrina, right?"

"Yes, much better than her. She knows the question before I even say it!" Lily got up.

"I'm going to shower and get ready for bed. Goodnight."

"I'll be up there in a minute." She left, Pokémon following her. Ty stared out the window, having the sneak suspicion that he forgot something important.


	5. Flight of the Pidgeotto

Ty got up early the next morning. Lily eventually got up, but wasn't too thrilled about meeting Surge again. The only way Ty convinced her to go with him was a promise to help her train Zenith, who was close to evolving. She followed him to the gym.

"I'm determined to not fall asleep!" she declared, "I want to see you kick that smug Surge's butt!"

"Says the girl whose Growlithe already did so."

"I wasn't there!"

"This won't take long. Afterwards, we'll see if we can get Zenith to evolve. With the increased Rocket activity, it wouldn't hurt to have some more muscle than just Blaze." Surge was waiting for them. He slapped Ty on the back, nearly knocking him over.

"Are you ready for our battle, Hotshot?"

"Yes sir."

"You can come in, but your friend and her little Growlithe can't?"

"Why not?"

"She might throw something at me." That's when he was knocked in the head by an empty Poke ball.

"Fine!" she declared, "I'll just go do some one on one training with my Pidgey!" She stormed away, leaving poor Ty alone and embarrassed. The two took their positions.

"I assume you know the rules."

"Yeah, three Pokémon each, only the trainer is allowed substitutes, yada yada."

"Hm, smart kid. Go, Voltrob!"

"You're up first, Salamence!"

"Voltorb, thunderdshock!"

"Fly up into the air and use hyperbeam!"

"Now use thunder bolt!"

"Shake it off and use dragon breath!" Both attacks met, causing a miniature explosion and covering the gym with smoke. Once it cleared, they waited for the outcome.

Lily left Snap and Blaze to go train Zenith out in the woods near the city. She set a piece of wood on the stump and brought out the Pidgey. She perched on her shoulder.

"Alright Zenith, according to Ty, you're close to evolving. So hit the wood with the attacks I give you. Got it?" She nodded.

"First, tackle!" BAM!

"Use sandstorm followed by gust!" BAM!

"Quick Attack!" BAM!

"End it with whirlwind!" The wood shattered.

"Okay, let's take a break." She sat on the stump while Zenith went to a nearby tree. John came sauntering, causing Lily to drag out a groan.

"Hey Tiger lily, training hard?"

"I'm not your Tiger Lily! I don't even like you or that Dan guy!"

"When are you going to stop playing hard to get?"

"When are you going to stop acting idiotic?"

"That hurts!"

"The truth hurts. Is there any reason you're over her besides to hit on me with cheesy pick up lines when I could be evolving my Pidgey?"

"Actually, somebody wanted me to give you and Tyler these tickets to the S.S. Enna."

"Who?"

"He didn't say. I'm guessing he was some kind of public relations person. He acted kind of strange though. Anyways, here you go." He handed her the tickets.

"Thanks?"

"No problem. Ta-ta, I'm off to Fuscha!" He left her puzzled.

Back at the gym, both Pokémon were unable to battle. Ty sighed as he returned Salamence, while thanking him for the good battle.

"Go, Snorlax!"

"Go, Magneton!" Snorlax, as usual, was asleep.

"Snorlax, wake up!" He got up.

"This should be easy! Magneton, use tackle to knock that tub of lard down!" The Pokémon charged, slamming into Snorlax's stomach. Snorlax fell over on top of it.

"Thunderbolt, shock, do something!"

"I guess Snorlax used body slam. Okay Snorlax, roll over so you don't suffocate it." He did so, revealing and unconscious Magneton.

"Return, come on out Raichu!"

"Snorlax, return! Go Typholsion!" He stood there with and empty look on his face. Surge gave a hearty laugh.

"I'd say he has the intelligence of a block of wood! Okay Raichu, body slam!" He stood there, watching the rodent come at him.

"Flamethrower!" He did so, missing Raichu and getting the ref instead.

"No, no the ref, Raichu!" Typhlosion looked confused. The Raichu was upon him. He caught his tail and slammed him to the ground.

"Okay, that's not I originally had planned, but it'll work. Throw Raichu into the air and unleash flamethrower, flame wheel, and ember on it!" He followed his instructions to a T.

"Wing Attack!" BAM!

"Tack-"

"Hello there blondy," someone interrupted, "Where's the trainer friend of yours?"

"He's at the gym, but he should be finished soon. Why do you ask?" She found herself surrounded by a bunch of Rockets. Only one stood out, wearing no hat and having a different uniform._ Do I want to know why he has white hair when he's younger than my dad?_ He stepped forward and picked up a block of wood.

"You've been training that Pidgey of yours. I must compliment you on taking the chance to do so. But it's still weak compared to our Pokémon. Skarmory, Steel Wing!" He threw it into the air, the attack slicing it in half. A chunk hit her on the head.

"Okay, you can use Steel Wing. My Pokémon are at a lower level because I just started and being a breeder, you don't get challenged a whole lot. For some reason, they think I can't battle. I don't see what Steel Wing has anything to do with the price of tea, which I hate. Bleh!" The Admin smirked.

"You just don't get it, kid. I'm trying to say that you're overpowered."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Then come without any trouble. It's not worth it to resist. We didn't come from Mt. Moon just to chat. We came to take care of some unfinished business with your friend. We need some assurance that he won't avoid us again."

"Goodbye!" BAM! "Ow, tree." The group laughed until she kicked the nearest member and dashed off towards the city, hoping to attract some attention.

Typhlosion stood proudly as the ref announced him the winner. A rather embarrassed Lt. Surge recalled his Raichu.

"Now that the battle's over, how about that interview sir?"

"Sure Hotshot, I might as well keep some of my dignity."

_I wonder how Zenith's training is going._

Zenith flew for her life, wishing that Lily would recall her. The Skarmory was chasing her on the order of his master. He came incredibly close to catching her in his talons, but she managed to out maneuver him through the trees, rolls, and dives.

Lily ran to the edge of town. Since it was still relatively early, nobody was out. She spotted the employee from the day before unloading some boxes. She waved him down. Once he saw the Rockets, he groaned.

"Oh no, more Rockets! Go away! I don't want to get involved! I should've listened to the radio when it said that they were on the rise!"

"Just go get my friend! He should be at the gym! Also, stop by the Center and get my Pokémon! They should be outside!"

"Okay, I'm booking it!" He ran off.

A Rocket jumped at her. She skillfully dodged him, giving a punch to nearby grunt. She jumped over a couple them, managing to knock one of them over. She skidded between a pair of legs, got up, and continued on. The Admin even tried, but he missed.

"Skarmory, forget about the Pidgey and stop that girl!"

Zenith flew to the gym. The guy from before couldn't get in, so he headed to the Center. She saw Ty talking to Surge through his window on the second floor. She smashed into it, hoping to attract some attention. Nobody noticed. She tried again, with little success. She took a breather. She backed up and dived again.

All Ty and Surge saw was a streak of light heading towards them. Ty quickly protected his laptop from the shattering glass. The light crashed through. The Pokémon stopped glowing, revealing it to be a Pidgeotto.

"Zenith, is that you?"

"My window!" Surge exclaimed, "Get that crazy bird out of here!"

"Zenith, what's wrong? You're acting strange. Wait, where's Lily?" Zenith began pecking him and tugged on his shirt, dragging him towards the window.

"Okay, I'm going! No not out the window! I can't fly!" Luckily, he landed in a bush near the entrance. She took off.

"Hey, wait!" He took off after her, whipping out one of his Poke balls.

The Skarmory dived at Lily, making her stop to avoid his talons. They left deep grooves in the street. She threw off a Rocket that jumped on her. Then the Admin jumped her. She kicked him in the shin, but he was undeterred. She kicked him again, stepped on his foot; bit his hand, and head butted him.

"Someone else want to hold her?" Nobody came forward.

"Lily!" The Admin smirked when he saw Ty and Lily's not too happy Pokémon.

"Well, look who finally showed up, the Strategist AKA Tyler Miyamato of Pallet Town. We're not too happy that you missed our meeting at Mt. Moon. I thought I made it clear that it wasn't optional."

"I thought I made it clear that I didn't care! Now let her go or I will be forced to use… force!"

"Yeah Ty, that'll get them," Lily retorted. The Admin chuckled.

"What's your answer to our little proposal?"

"I'm not joining you! She has nothing to do with this!"

"On the contrary, she has everything to do with this. She's your best friend, so she's guilty by association." Blaze charged and bit the Admin on the leg. The rest of her Pokémon began attacking. Lily managed to knock him down and get away. He got up and smirked. "Do you think this is over? No, it's only the beginning. Team Rocket is everywhere. Let's meet in Saffron. I know you can't avoid that place. It was nice to meet you too, Lily. We might meet again, we might not. Skarmory!" The steel bird flew in front of the sun, blinding everyone. By the time they could see, all the Rockets were gone. Ty grabbed her arm.

"Where are we going?"

"The Center, I owe you an explanation." Ty explained that he had met the Admin, Trapper, in Viridian City before he went to Pewter to wait for Lily. He somehow got into a battle with him and won. Trapper offered him a position, but he declined it.

"He just laughed and told me to meet him at Mt. Moon. I felt like I was forgetting something important. I didn't mean for you to get dragged into all of this. I'm sorry." Lily took a sip of her soda.

"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault they don't take no for an answer. Did you have this trouble the first time through Kanto?"

"No, they just wanted my Pokémon. I have a feeling it has to do with my alter ego. Maybe putting my name down was a bad idea."

"What now?"

"We keep moving. I'm not going to stop for them!"

"I'm not backing down either! I'll show them a thing or two!" They changed subject to their Pokémon. Lily hugged her newly evolved Pidgeotto. "I'm so happy for you! I knew all that training would pay off, I wished I was there to see it! Now I'm going have to buy a new band for you!" Zenith cooed. Blaze happily wagged his tail. Lily whipped out the tickets.

"What are those?"

"Tickets for the SS Enna. You might not be able to avoid those Rockets, but you can take your time getting to Saffron."


	6. SS Enna, Team Rocket?

The two observed the ship docked in the Vermilion dock. Lily whistled, admiring its glossiness and size. Ty on the other hand, had a natural fear of ships ever since the SS Anne incident and the movie _Titanic. _Blaze, despite being a fire type, had no qualms with water. He instead had been snapping at random people, snarling and bearing his teeth, very unlike him.

"Well, it's certainly big," Ty commented, looking a little uneasy, "It looks like the SS Anne, which sank."

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's completely safe," Lily assured him, "Cruise ships rarely sink. Right Blaze?" He nodded, not sure what she was talking about. Ty uneasily began walking to the ticket counter.

"I know but I just have this sneaking suspicion that something's up. Don't you?"

"I would say that you were being your usual paranoid self, but you're right. Besides, Blaze seems to be a bit grumpy this morning." He snapped at a crew member's heels, nearly getting him. She picked him up and sheepishly grinned before hurrying after Ty. They traveled to the counter.

"Tickets, please," the porter stated, "Do you want to register your Pokémon? We have accommodations for all types. In fact, we have a perfect one for that good looking Growlithe of yours."

"Just scan the tickets," she snapped, "I take care of my own Pokémon."

"So do I," Ty agreed, "Besides, my Scyther would start a riot." The porter scanned their tickets.

"Alright, have fun you two!" _If I don't kill you in your sleep…_Lily and Ty rushed to board the ship, their suspicion of the crew growing greater with each passing moment. By the time they got up the ramp, Lily tripped over the last step, falling, and doing a face plant onto the deck. Ty sniggered.

"That was graceful. Is this why you don't do contests?"

"Yes! I don't want to trip on live TV! You know that cameras and I are not a good combo."

"You mean the fact that you always cause domino effects at the Leagues when you bump into them?"

"Shut up, Mr. My Tomato."

"Miyamato."

"Whatever."

The ship lurched as it launched. Joe and Dan had hidden in a lifeboat to get ahead of Lily and Ty. Unfortunately, Joe came down with a bad case of sea sickness. He nearly hurled for the third time.

"Ugh, I get seasick. How about we just stay in here until we dock?"

"That's fine with me," Dan replied, "We'll get way ahead of Lily and Tyler this way."

"If they're not on this ship too."

"I seriously doubt it. The tickets are probably too expensive." He peeked out and quickly drew his head back in. "I was wrong! They're here too!"

"I don't really care. I feel terrible." Dan thought for a moment.

"Why didn't tell us about Vermilion?"

"I don't know and it worries me."

"I couldn't tell."

"Shut it."

Ty and Lily settled down at a table in the mess hall. Ty nervously tapped the table with his fingers, making noise and attracting attention. He glanced around, feeling the need to jump overboard. Lily finally got bored and tried to make an unsuccessful attempt at calming him down.

"Do you remember what happened to the SS Anne?" he asked, "Or were you not paying attention?"

"Hey, Prof. Oak's classes were hard! I can't believe there wasn't anybody left to educate me!"

"I worry about John; he's starting to get really competitive."

"I worry about him too. Nobody with half a brain should be allowed to wander around alone. Besides, the SS Anne only sunk because Team Rocket… disguised themselves as the crew…" All three of them looked around, observing the crew. "… and tried to steal everybody's Pokémon…" She picked up Blaze as a waiter passed by and held him tight. "… and managed to blow a hole in the ship." They both shifted their eyes, meeting the glaring eyes of the crew.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah, and we're so screwed." Blaze growled at a nearby crew man. "So what do we do?" Ty thought for a moment before coming up with a plan.

"I'll have Salamence and Scyther following us in the air. The Rockets will never look there. I'll keep Blastoise and Haunter with me. I'll give the rest to Scyther, and you can released Zenith and give Snap to her and Salamence for safekeeping."

"That sounds good, here you go." Ty went out on deck with their Poke balls. Lily scratched Blaze behind the ear, hoping to calm him down and not attract so much attention. Ty eventually came back.

"We're all set. Do you have everything ready?" She nodded.

"They probably won't appear until tonight, when we're farther from shore. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night." They went to their cabin to nap. A crew man pulled out a radio.

"We might have a problem with a couple of the trainers…"

Lily woke up a few hours later. Ty was still asleep, and Blaze had never fallen asleep. An idea formed in her head. _I can get revenge for that morning he had Blastoise squirt me._

"Blaze, gently ember his foot." He nodded and did it. Ty shot up, nearly hitting the roof. He jumped around the cabin on one foot, yelling.

"Yeow! What was that for?"

"Revenge is a dish best served hot. Come on, I'm hungry."

"Me too." They left their cabin and went to the mess hall. They piled some food from the buffet onto their plates and sat down.

"I hope they don't strike during dinner," she whispered, "I'm starving!"

"Do you think Dan and Joe are here?" She shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. Blaze doesn't see them as a threat anymore. You and Joe are a lot alike."

"Is that a compliment or insult?"

"Take it anyway you want to." A voice came on over the PA before they could dig in.

"Honored guests, may we have your attention please? The captain is taking a little snooze. We'll be running the ship." About half of the crew ripped of their disguises, revealing their Rocket uniforms. Blaze began barking and growling. People gasped and shrank away from them. Lily did something the opposite.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed loudly, standing up, "I knew you were Rockets!" Ty pulled her down and nervously laughed, knowing that she had caught their attention. He glanced at her. She just sheepishly smiled.

"Everybody drop your Poke balls and don't try anything stupid. We don't need any heroes." He eyed Lily and Ty. Several people took off their belts and placed them on the ground. Ty slipped the two Poke balls into his pocket.

"I can't do anything with Blaze!" Lily softly stated, "I never found the ball that he buried in the backyard!"

"Maybe they won't care because he looks like a pet."

"Hey you two, no talking!"

"Us?" Ty asked innocently.

"Where are your Poke balls?"

"I sent them ahead this morning. I needed some time away from them." _We're so dead!_ The grunt came closer. Blaze lunged at him, snarling. Lily quickly scooped him up and sheepishly grinned.

"Return that mutt to its ball!"

"I can't! He buried it in my backyard back home and we never found it!"

"I can vouch," Ty added, "She made me help her dig up half of the yard. We never found it." The grunt closely examined him, making him uncomfortable. He gulped.

"Do I know you?'

"I hope not."

"Wait, now I recognize you! You're that Strategist kid that writes them articles! Hey guys, we have a celebrity here!" _I see a big bonus for this!_ Ty and Lily found themselves surrounded. Blaze struggled, wanting to bite them all on the ankles. The grunt pinned Ty's arms to his side.

"I think the new captain will be happy to see you. Let's go." Ty struggled, but couldn't escape out of his grasp. He carried him towards the Captain's office. Lily followed, carrying Blaze. The grunt dropped him in front of the door to the office. Ty shifted his hat, a common habit of his._ I hope they got the signal. Now they just need to wait for the right time to strike. _A group came out of the office and threw the real captain overboard. The grunt pushed Ty into it, with Lily not far behind. She looked around.

_Oh no, not another Admin!_ They had their feet on the desk and leaned back in their chair.

"You better have a good reason for bringing these two," she stated, "When kids get involved our plans tend to go haywire."

"He's the Strategist."

"Ah, we have a local celebrity."

"And his best friend!" Lily added, not wanting to be forgotten. Blaze just growled. The figure looked up, revealing her to be a young woman, with curly blonde hair (shorter than Lily's, whose hair was wavier) holding a black rose. Once she saw Ty, she smiled.

_Why is she looking at me that way?_ He wondered, trying not to sweat.

"I finally get to meet the famous Tyler Miyamato," she began, getting up, "You're much cuter in person than I first thought." Ty was speechless. He didn't know how to handle girls, except Lily.

"Uh…"

"That was a compliment, Sugar."

"Eh-ah…" Blaze let loose a flamethrower, nearly catching Ty in it.

"I don't like her either," Lily stated. The other blond gave her a look.

"That was a pretty powerful flamethrower, and that Growlithe looks so cute in that bandana! May I hold him?" Blaze snapped at her.

_Good boy._ Lily smiled slyly.

"Who are you?" Ty asked, getting nervous.

"I thought you'd never ask! They call me Agent 009 of Team Rocket, but you can call me Domino!"

**TBC…**

**Domino was featured in the movie**_** Mewtwo Returns**_** for those who don't know. Well R&R! **


	7. The Domino Effect

"Pft, that's a ridiculous name," Lily commented, "Unless you get knocked down easily." Blaze wagged his tail to Lily's response.

"You better watch it, Lily Kline," Domino warned, wagging her finger, "Or you'll be swimming with the Magikarps."

"Funny, I prefer a Magikarp's company to yours." Ty just shook his head.

_Why does she have to banter with everybody? Uh oh, here comes the female fatale!_

"Anyways, I'm a big fan of yours, Ty. May I call you Ty?"

"Only my friends call me Ty," he answered uneasily, his eyes pleading for Lily's help out of his sticky situation.

"Well Tyler, I hope that you'll consider me a friend soon."

"What are you talking about?"

"Let me show me, sugar." Domino approached him, causing him to back up into the desk.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"I don't want to take a chance; I'm a very careful person." He ran out of space and trapped himself in a corner.

"Maybe you're a little too careful. Let me help you relax." She put her arms around his neck and forced him into a kiss. Ty struggled and tried to pull away, but he only met the wall. It wasn't a small kiss either. He looked like he was suffocating. Lily's temper boiled.

_It's one thing to hit on a guy, but you never, ever force him into a kiss!_ She put down Blaze.

"Stay here, this is my battle."

Lily jumped and tackled Domino to the ground. Ty scrambled away, where Blaze began licking him. He wiped his mouth and caught his breath.

"I'm okay!" _But being kissed by a female fatale is not something I want to brag about! How am I going to tell my parents that my first kiss was stolen by Team Rocket? If John finds out about this, I'll never be able to live it down!_ The dust cloud moved, the two girls throwing punches and kicks. Blaze put his paws in front of his eyes.

Meanwhile, Ty rolled Haunter's Poke ball under the door while the Grunt was distracted. Zenith had been waiting outside. She tapped the button, releasing him. He glided through the wall. She glanced in the window to see Lily and Domino fighting. Eventually, the grunt intervened and pulled Lily by her backpack off Domino, who got up and straightened her hat.

"Is somebody jealous?"

_What, how dare she! _"Nope, I'm just protective of my best friend who is practically my brother." At this point, Ty turned a nice shade of pink. Domino glared at Lily, clearly unhappy that she had ruined her moment with Ty. She threw a rose, which barely missed Lily and stuck in the wall. "Hm, every rose does have its thorns. I wouldn't really call you a rose, more like a cactus." Domino ignored her.

"I would like to see your Pokémon," she told Ty, "I like a man with strong Pokémon."

"Sorry, but I sent them ahead." _Didn't my dad warn me about women like her?_ She smiled slyly.

"Like that's true! You might think a step ahead, but you're no psychic!" She pulled a Poke ball from his pocket.

"This is yours. Now either you hid the rest or released them all to avoid them getting stolen. You turned your hat a different direction earlier. Perhaps it's a nervous habit, or a signal to your Pokémon. Let's see who comes out of this one." She pressed the release button.

Blastoise came out, nearly filling up the whole office. Lily let go of Blaze, who proceeded to bite the Grunt's ankle. Domino quickly called for backup. As reinforcements arrived, Salamence landed on the deck, blocking their way. Scyther scraped along the deck, making some fall to the next floor. Snorlax floated in the water, snoring. Typhlosion held a group trying to come out by blocking the door. A group jumped overboard, running from Haunter's illusions. Domino grabbed Ty and held him in a head lock.

"Nothing personal, sugar, call off your Pokémon!" He did nothing. She tightened her grip. He began to have difficulty breathing.

"Guys, stop!" All of them automatically stopped except for Typhlosion, who was eating a boot.

"That's better. If any of you make a move, you'll find yourself short a trainer!" They backed down except for Scyther, who never backed down from a fight. Salamence had to sit on him to prevent him from attacking Domino. The grunt whose boot Typhlosion had been eating took it from him and put it back on. Blaze was still attached to a Grunt's ankle. Lily smiled and stepped forward.

"You think you've won, don't you? You forgot one detail."

"That would be…?"

"You'll see." She ducked.

Snapdragon came flying and landed on Domino's face, knocking her over. Ty scrambled away. Zenith swooped down and snatched Snap before Domino could grab him. About that time, a mob of Pokémon came onto the deck.

"You have Pokémon fools, use them!" Unfortunately, the Pokémon were accompanied by their trainers, so the Rockets had their hands full. The Grunt finally pried Blaze off his ankle and threw him. Lily caught him.

"You forgot that I also have Pokémon."

"Fine then, if it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get it! Roger, toss me a Poke ball!"

"But I'm being mobbed by Jigglypuffs!"

"Now Roger!"

"Fine." He tossed it to her just to be double slapped by the Jigglypuffs. She pressed the button. A Golbat came out.

"Zenith, it's your turn!" She dropped Snap and flew towards the Golbat.

"Golbat, Supersonic!"

"Dodge and use Whirlwind!" Both Pokémon were about to attack, but they were interrupted by a cry. Everybody turned to see a school of Tentacool and a huge Tentacruel surrounding the boat.

"I think we disturbed them," Ty stated, "A stray shot must've hit them. Has anybody seen Snorlax?" He floated along and was recalled.

"I think we're in trouble," Lily said, "Don't provoke them!"

"Magenmite, thunder!" The attack lit the water up, making the Pokémon even angrier. Everybody glared at Domino, who had ordered the attack.

"Team Rocket, attack!" All the grunts followed her orders.

"Everybody to the life boats!" someone shouted, "If that Tentacruel strikes the boat, this baby's sinking faster than you can say Titanic!" All the Pokémon were recalled and people ran to the boats.

"Blastoise, try to clear the way!" He stood at the front of the ship, spraying any Tentacool that attempted to stop the life boats.

Meanwhile, Dan had been watching the whole thing.

"We got to get out of here! There's a bunch of Tentacool and a giant Tentacruel attacking the ship!"

"You'll have to go outside to lower the life boat, come back down, and untie it."

"Fine I'll…. Ehagh!" A Tentacool climbed in as he lifted the cover.

"Watch its tentacles! They're poisonous!"

"Why don't you do something?"

"And do what, reveal ourselves? We're not even supposed to be here! If the Boss finds out that we were and didn't help, we'll be jobless and I will kill you!"

"Help me get it off my face! It's trying to eat my brains!"

"What brains?"

Domino noted that the battle was turning against them.

"Retreat!" A sub appeared. The Grunts jumped overboard and swam to it. She threw a rose, pinning Ty's hat.

"I'm not leaving here empty handed! If I can't have Pokémon, I'll just have to settle for you!" Haunter drifted up and used Psychic to throw her overboard before she could reach Ty.

"Haunter, use Nightshade on Tentacruel!" He nodded and released his attack. It was effective, but the Tentacruel fell onto the boat, breaking it in half. Zenith grabbed Snap. Ty tightly gripped the railing as it tipped upward. Typhlosion caught his foot. Salamence flew up with Blaze on his back. Lily slid towards the water. Blastoise jumped down to the water and caught her.

"Snap, cut the ropes with razor leaf!" The boat splashed down. The Tentacruel got back up. Ty recalled his Pokémon and hopped into the boat.

"Who are you?" he asked the two people already in there. Blastoise bought Lily to the boat. She returned her Pokémon and hung onto Blaze. Blastoise was also returned.

"Joe, Dan, what are you doing here? Am I the only one that sees the giant storm cloud?" The group looked back to see it. The wind suddenly picked up and the waves began to crash.

"Where are the paddles?" Ty asked.

"We used them to beat back the Tentacool," Dan explained, "Then they stole them and broke them." Joe groaned. "Oh, and he gets seasick."

"Okay, we're stuck in the middle of the ocean, a storm is brewing, and we don't have any paddles!" Lily exclaimed, "Great, what next?"

"Incoming!" Dan exclaimed, just as a giant wave crashed over them.


	8. The Island

Lily woke up with the waves tickling her feet. She coughed up some sand and salt water, then rolled over. She shaded her eyes from the bright sun. She sat up, the sand clumping to her shirt. Blaze lay next to her, exhausted from keeping with her. She looked around. There were woods a few yards away, but as far as Lily could tell, nothing else was there.

"Okay, let's go," she sighed, picking Blaze up, "Let's find Ty and get off this island." Blaze looked at her sleepily. She tripped over something, receiving a mouthful of sand. The thing sat up.

"Ugh, what happened?" She got up.

"Dan? Of all the people I had to get stuck with, it just had to be you!"

"I love you too, Rose bud. Look, we're trapped on a deserted island with no one around for miles. We have to rely on each other to survive. I say we make the best of it. How about a date? We can keep each other warm in the chilly night, if you know what I mean." She picked up a nearby coconut and threw it, knocking him on the head. "Ow!"

"How can you think about that at a time like this? We need to find our respective partners and get off this island. I appear to have all my stuff, you?"

"So do I, but my scarf is soaked!" She had already started walking.

"Hey, wait up!"

"Hey kid, get up! You've been out all morning!" Ty opened his eyes to see Joe standing over him. He blinked and sat up.

"Joe, I presume."

"Yeah, and you're Tyler Miyamato. Now that we established that, let's look for Dan and that girl."

"Her name's Lily."

"Whatever, do you have a Gear?" Ty checked his stuff while Joe squeezed out his hat.

_Good, he didn't take anything while I was asleep._

"Yeah, I'm fixing to see if I can get Lily." He removed it from a plastic bag. "No signal, of course. I guess we might as well start walking."

"I was thinking the same thing, kid." They walked a little bit in silence.

"I guess Lily was right."

"About what?"

"She said that we were alike. We don't trust each other, so we keep silent. We just want to find our counterparts and get off this stupid island."

"We should have a battle, but later."

"You did hold up a store and threaten my best friend. I should be fighting you right now." Joe chuckled.

"That would be a waste of time, it wouldn't help the situation."

"I know that. We better find them quickly. If we ended up together, so did them. If Dan's anything like Lily described him, we only have a couple of hours before he drives her crazy and she kills him."

"He would learn his lesson."

"You're cold."

"The truth is cold."

Dan followed Lily, sighing._ Her, me, a beach, a nice breeze, all need for a romantic get away is music. Her, me… yagh!_ He tripped over a Shellder. It shyly opened its shell.

"Excuse me! You can go back to sleep now!" He then realized that Lily had disappeared into the wooded area. "Hey, wait for me!"

Ty released Haunter and asked him to find Lily. He floated through the woods. Joe watched him go.

"Wouldn't Scyther have been a better choice? He could do it quicker."

"Scyther doesn't get along with her. He wouldn't mind if she stays missing."

"I wouldn't mind if Joe stayed missing."

"You don't like him, do you?"

"You really are a smart guy."

Lily noticed that Dan was nowhere in sight. She congratulated herself for losing him. Blaze woke up with a yawn. She put him down. Haunter floated through a tree.

"Hey Haunter, did Ty send you?" He nodded. "Okay, come on Blaze, we're going!" They both followed Haunter.

Dan was completely lost. He hadn't figured out which way Lily had gone, and he wasn't known for his directional senses.

"Come on out, Muk." To his surprise, the Tenetacool that had attached itself to his face came out. It stared at him for a moment before launching itself into his face. "Get it off!" He tried to pull it off, "Don't eat my brains, I don't have enough like it is!" He stepped backwards, stumbling on a root, and landing on his back. "Tentacool, return… "Man, I'm so lost!"

Lily and Blaze eventually found Ty and Joe thanks to Haunter. He returned him.

"Are you alright?" Ty asked, "I think we all got knocked around good."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I see that you met Joe. Have you battled yet?"

"Did you see Dan?" Joe questioned, "He was bound to have found you, hormones and all."

"Actually, I tripped over him. He followed me for a while, but I think he got lost."

"Now what?"

"How about that battle?" Ty asked.

"Sure, we don't have anything better to do."

The two battlers and their Pokémon were too tired to battle by the time Lily finished lunch. Joe returned his Cacturne, Ty his Snorlax.

"You're not half bad, kid. No wonder they call you the Strategist."

"That's the best battle I've had with a trainer for a long time. Maybe you should be my rival instead of John."

"Nah, I've never been interested in gym battles." He wiped the sweat off his brow. Lily offered them both some food. As they were eating, Dan came running out of the woods.

"Look who decided to show up," his partner stated, "Where have you been?"

"We have to get off this island, now!"

"We're not able to."

"Our lives are in grave danger!"

"Is it the Beedrill swarm again?"

"I'm being serious! This is the location of the experimental Rocket lab where the machines went haywire and started attacking anything that moved. That's why there're Pokémon only on the beach! I found the entrance. It's only a matter of time before the find us!"

"Great," Lily sighed. One said killer machine appeared, wielding buzz saws. Dan screamed. Blaze fired at it, but it appeared to be fire proof.

"Scyther, get it!" He sliced the robot in half, but more appeared.

"Maybe there's something in the lab we can use to signal for help or get out of here," Lily suggested, "Maybe there's a map that can get us back on track." They all started running, robots at their heels. Dan spotted the entrance. Joe lifted it up, allowing everybody to slide in. A robot lifted up its claw. Dan yanked Joe in, the door slamming on the claw.

"That was too close, even for me," Joe calmly stated. By this time, a terrified Dan had attached himself to him.

"Can anybody find a light switch?"

"Does anybody have a Pokémon that can use flash?"

"No."

"Aha, I finally got you! Let's kiss!"

"Grr…"

"Oh wait, that's her Growlithe, nice doggy…" CHOMP! "OW! Bad doggy!"

"Blaze let go of the annoying stalker and use flamethrower." The place lit up momentarily. Dan nursed his hand.

"You deserved that," Joe remarked, "Of course, it would've been good black mail material if you did kiss the Growlithe."

"Shut up!"

"Hey, I found something!" Everybody looked at what Lily had stumbled on.

"Will it fly? It looks kind of old." A part fell off.

"Don't worry, we don't need that."

"Since when were you a mechanical expert?"

"I'm not. We're running on pure luck." Joe sighed. Blaze let out a groan.

"No offense Lily, but your spur of the moment plans don't normally work smoothly," Ty reminded.

"Any other options?"

"Salamence is too tired to fly, and Blastoise would need to know what direction to swim."

"Let's find an opening hatch." Dan and Joe dragged the door open while Ty and Lily pushed the fly machine to face the right way.

"Zenith, come on out. Go ahead of us and guide us to the nearest town." She flew off. "I call shot gun!" Lily hopped into the seat.

"I call the seat next to her!" Dan nearly jumped in when he saw Blaze glaring at him. "Never mind, I'll sit with Joe." Ty hopped into the seat next to Lily.

"Here we go!" She pressed a random button. Dan held on to the nearest thing to him, much to Joe's distaste.

_Must not kill… If I do, the motive would be clear._ The machine started up. Lily pushed on the stick, leaving the robots behind.

"Welcome to Lily airlines. Please fasten your non-existent seat belts and keep all body parts in the machine at all times. Thank you for flying with us."

A few hours later, Zenith signaled that they were close to a town. Lily shook Ty awake.

"See, I told you we would make it! We're safe!" A part fell off. The engine chocked and died. _Uh oh! _It plummeted to the ground. Joe and Dan somehow jumped out and landed in a tree.

"Um, panic and scream?"

"That sounds good. Ah!"

"Ahh!"

"Owooo!" Blaze howled as Lily nearly squished him. They suddenly came to a stop. They opened their eyes to see that the machine was gently coming to the ground. Once they landed, both of them hopped out.

"Too close, way too close," Ty panted.

"I was expecting you," a mysterious voice said, "Good thing I'm psychic."

"Hello Sabrina and thanks."

"Don't thank me, Tyler. Thank my Alakazam, he used Psychic to stop you."

"Thank you!" She returned him.

"I had a vision off you two crashing yesterday."

"Thank goodness! Hi, I'm…"

"Lily Kline, I know. I'm psychic, remember? And this must be Blaze." Blaze wagged his tail, but was confused about how she knew his name. "So Tyler, shall we battle? You're here anyways."


	9. Saffron Battle Blues

Despite Ty's initial hesitation, He found himself opposite of Sabrina in her gym. He gulped, enlarging his Poke ball.

"What's the outcome of this battle?"

"I didn't see that far," Sabrina answered, "Let's see, shall we?"

"Scyther, go!"

"I remember him. He's still rather belligerent. Go, Golduck." Lily and Blaze sat on the bench, watching the battle. _At least I'm finally getting to see a battle. Heh, I still have the Thunder Badge that Surge gave me. Should I try for a ribbon?_

"You have the first move Tyler."

"Alright, Scyther use cut!" He charged at Golduck.

"Dodge by jumping and use confusion." He jumped skillfully as Scyther sliced. He blasted him. Scyther became confused, randomly swinging around his blades and hitting himself.

"Scyther, return! Blastoise, use hydro cannon!" He came out, charged and ready.

"This will be quick. Dodge again and use Fury Swipes." Blastoise let the attack lose. Golduck once again jumped, but looked surprised as the attack curved around and hit him, knocking him against the wall and out. Sabrina returned him.

"Good job. Espeon, it's your turn."

"Use Surf!"

"Psychic." The waves turned back on Blastoise, washing him away instead.

"Come on, you can do it! Remember the strategy!" He got up and let out a roar.

_Bummer. _Lily thought _it looks like Blast is in over his head. He's not the best at fighting Psychic types, but Ty must have a reason to use him. Maybe he's trying to get her first two out of the way so he can focus on her last Pokémon, Alakazam._ The battle had intensified, leaving Blastoise look pretty tired.

"Finish with pysbeam. "

"Dodge and use water gun, full blast." He rolled out of the way and blasted Espeon. It staggered before falling.

"Return, Espeon. Go, Alakazam."

"Blastoise, you're too tired to battle anymore. You deserve a rest. Scyther, it's your time to shine!" An unconfused Scyther came out, ready to seek revenge for his earlier embarrassment. "Metal Claw!"

"The usual." Scyther found himself lifted off the ground, being tossed everywhere, unable to break out. Finally, he was tossed to Ty, knocked out. He recalled him. "We seem to be even," Sabrina commented, "Two down, one to go." Ty gripped his last Poke ball.

"Haunter, it's time!"

"I remember him, he beat my Kadabra. But can he beat my Alakazam?"

"We'll see. Nightshade!"

"Psybeam."

" Dodge! Dreameater!"

"Teleport." Alakazam disappeared. "Careful, you'll never know when or where it'll appear." Blaze caught a scent and started barking.

"Sh! Let Ty handle it himself!" Blaze went to growling in the direction of the exit. Lily realized he wasn't after Alakazam.

_Maybe he caught Admin Trapper's scent. He did say he would be here. That look like it hurt! _Haunter was on the floor, looking a little bit beat up.

"Just a little bit more!" He floated up and let out a battle cry. A bright light enveloped him. Lily slipped on a pair of shades. Pretty soon, Haunter was a Gengar. She took the shades off. Alakazam knew he was in trouble. He slammed into him, hitting him with a close range shadow punch. Alakazam hit the ground. Sabrina let out a small smile while she recalled him.

"I assume you want an interview. Follow me, both of you."

"Both?" Lily asked, "Why do you need me?"

"You'll see."

"Stupid psychics."

"I heard that."

"Drats!"

"Now follow me. I believe we can kill two birds with one stone. As you've probably heard by now, I have my hands full with team Rocket. They pop out of nowhere and then disappear before I can arrive."

"What have they been doing?" Ty inquired.

"They've ganged up on several people, tried to swipe Pokémon from the center, and they tried to kidnap a trainer who came here to challenge me."

"What kind of Pokémon have they tried to steal?"

"Ghost types, now that I think about it. That trainer had mainly Ghost types."

"Sounds like they're trying to build up an army," Lily commented, "Psychic types are weak against Ghost. I think they're trying to beat you."

"It makes sense, with me out of the way Saffron could easily be taken over."

"What does this have to do with us?" Sabrina made eye contact with Ty, who had asked.

"I have located their hideout. I can't invade it alone without being overwhelmed. The police are too busy trying to protect the citizens. With your help, we can drive them out. A lot of them have grass types that they caught outside the city. Blaze could easily beat them with one shot and her other Pokémon could help too. I'm asking you to help, but if either of you don't want to, I understand."

"Count me in!" Lily exclaimed, "I've been itching to give Team Rocket a piece of my mind!"

"We better heal our Pokémon first," Ty replied, "Is the Center far?"

"No, but that's where the Rockets have been ambushing people."

"What about my interview?"

"Here are my answers." She handed him a piece of paper.

"How'd you… never mind." She led the out the back door of the gym. Blaze started growling.

"We better get moving. They're close by." Sabrina and Ty started running. "Hey, wait up!" Lily ran after them, followed by Blaze. They arrived at the Center and quickly got their Pokémon attended to. "Where's this base?" Lily inquired.

"Under a rock along this road, I believe. I haven't been able to pinpoint their location."

"Blaze can sniff it out."

"Let's go," Ty stated once they got their Pokémon back, "I'm sure Trapper's involved." He and Sabrina left.

"Call the police," Lily whispered to Nurse Joy, "Things are about to get hairy." Blaze tracked the trail to a rock. Sabrina and Ty moved the rock over to reveal a staircase.

"Are you two ready?" They both nodded.

"I'll leave a sign," Lily told them, "You go on ahead." They both rushed down the stairs. She tied a pink (her least favorite color) bandana to a nearby tree root. Sabrina and Ty had already met resistance from rather surprised Rockets. Both of them had their Pokémon out, tearing through the ranks.

"Look who actually showed up. I guess you can keep appointments."

"I'm not here for you, Trapper. I'm here to help the people of Saffron!"

"You always have to be the hero, don't you?" Blastoise fired a water gun.

"Skarmory!"It blocked it, with little effect. Blastoise was then distracted by Zubats.

"Skarmory, get that annoying brat and bring him to me. He'll make a nice present for the Boss." It walked towards Ty, not having enough room to fly. He noted that everybody was busy with something else. It pounced.

"Blaze, Fire Tackle! (1)" A streak of fire came out of nowhere and knocked Skarmory over. Lily jogged down the stairs, releasing Snap and Zenith. Blaze attached himself to the Skarmory's leg. It shook him, but he held on. She pulled Ty out of the way as Typhlosion flew back. He got up and charged again. "Blaze, get over here!" He let go and came over.

"It's the best friend to the rescue again, except you seemed to have switched roles. Can't either of you decide who's the damsel in distress?" Trapper smirked.

"We take turns," Lily replied, "it's a system we worked out a while ago."

"Ha, you should be a comedian."

"I already am. Why did the Admin end up on the ground?"

"I don't know."

"You'll see." A Graveler flew through the sir, hitting the surprised Admin. "Grab him!" Lily tackled him and started punching and kicking him.

"Help!" Sabrina stood by, watching her beat up the Admin."

"Are you going to stop her?"

"Nah let her have her fun." A few minutes later, a beaten and battered Trapper was dragged away. They said goodbye to Sabrina and began to plan their way to Celadon.

**I know it's not a real move, but it's more like giving one name to a combo of attacks.**


	10. Scentsational

The duo arrived at Celadon two days later. They had taken a short cut, which resulted in a swarm of angry Beedrill. Needless to say, Lily needed some more antidotes after they got out of that mess. Joe and Dan, who had naturally followed them, also met up with the swarm. The result came out to be a very sore Dan and an annoyed Joe (as usual). Upon arriving, Lily had out her guide book.

"It says here that Celadon's famous for its perfume," she waved her hand in front of her face, nearly gagging, "I wondered what that awful smell was."

"I heard these ladies are very sensitive about their perfume, so you better be careful of what you say. I know how opinionated you can get."

"Sorry, I just don't like it all mixed together at once, especially the really strong scents. Yuck!" Of course, Blaze was in heaven. He sniffed the air and sighed. If it hadn't been for gravity, he would've started floating off the ground. "Why don't you challenge Erika and I'll explore?"

"Aren't you going to come and watch?"

"Ty, you're a big boy now. You don't really need me to hold your hand any more. .."

"… Not that you ever did."

"I want to leave you two lovebirds alone." Ty blushed a bright shade of pink at the comment. His crush over Erika was a commonly known fact about him. Everybody in Pallet knew about it, so certainly Erika knew."You do like her! Ty and Erika sitting in a tree, K-I…" He quickly covered her mouth before she could do the whole song to avoid public embarrassment.

"Do not!"

"Denial!"

"As a trainer, I appreciate her battling skills and the care she shows for her Pokémon. She also has a good personality…"

"… and looks."

"Yeah, I almost forgot about that… wait a minute…!" Typhlosion came out and stared at him. He sheepishly grinned and blushed a little. Ty realized what his Pokémon was hinting and jumped back. "Typhlosion, not you too!"

"See, even he knows it. It's very obvious, Ty." They went their separate ways.

Ty walked with Typhlosion to the gym. Before entering, he returned the fire Pokémon. He stepped out of the way to allow a group of girls to pass. He stepped into the greenhouse area.

"Hello! Anybody here?" Nobody answered. He shrugged and started walking towards the battle field, thinking that she might be finishing up a battle. A Gloom came out of the bushes and began walking with him. He eventually noticed it. "Hello there, Gloom. Do you know where I can find Erika?" It nodded and motioned for him to follow. It lead him into a room filled with mainly grass with a battlefield out lined in chalk. Erika sat there on the side, taking a break from her classes. She noticed them and got up. Ty felt Buttefrees in his stomach and a blush coming on.

"Hello, I'm Erika the Gym Leader. Who might you be?"

_Ah, she doesn't recognize me…_ "I'm Tyler Miyamato from the _Kanto Times. _I'm here to…"

"Ty! I didn't recognize you for a moment. You've gotten taller! I accept your challenge!"

"Uh…" _I love you! No, don't say that stupid! _

"Well, are you going to show me how handsome your Pokémon have gotten since we last battled?"

"Sure… Erika."

They took opposite sides of the field.

Lily followed Blaze around as he sniffed around the perfume shops. She looked around, sheepishly grinning when people gave them a weird look. He entered a shop.

"May I help you?" asked a sales lady, "We're having a sale."

"Not thanks, my Growlithe is just browsing." She let him sniff for a minute. "Come on, we better get a room at the Center before Ty gets back."

She exited, making sure he followed her out. Unbeknownst to both of them, they were being watched by none other than Dan. He sighed as he shifted a box in his hands. _I need to get her away from that party pooping Growlithe of hers. Oh great, it's him…_ He watched John go into the Center which Lily had just entered. He nearly crushed the binoculars. He put them down and slipped on his disguise, which included jeans, and red T-shirt, and a different color of scarf. _Operation Love a first whiff a go._

Lily sat down, waiting for her Pokémon to be healed. She sighed, enjoying the peace and quiet…

"Hello, my little Tiger Lily! How's my little flower doing?"

…. Or not. She groaned when she saw John. He took the seat next to her. "I got bored in Fuscha and decided to come here. What took you guys so long?"

"We ran into some Rockets."

"Oh… you mean real Rockets?"

"Yes, real Rockets." She sighed, whishing that he would go away. A red head teen came in. Lily instantly recognized him and buried her face in the palm of her hand. _Not Dan, not now! This is just what I need, two love sick boys fighting over me! I must admit, it's better than encountering more Rockets._ Dan came up to her and went on one knee. She noticed that he had a small box. _Great, he's going to propose! _

"Hello rosebud, I got you something!" He handed her the box of perfume.

"Did you steal this?"

"Love should not have a price tag on it!" John got up and in front of him. The two glared at each other, nearly sparking a fire.

"John, meet Dan."

"Back off, Dan! She's my tiger lily!"

"She clearly despises you! It's my destiny to be with her!"

"Guys, can you stop with all the flowery nicknames? I don't like flowers… or perfume."

"What about diamonds?"

"And risk you robbing you a jewelry store? No thanks."

"Stand back, tiger lily! I'll take care of this ruffian." Her eye twitched. The two boys were not going to listen to here. She went over to the counter and got her Pokémon. The yelling became louder. Eventually, a dust clouded formed where they began fighting.

"Oh my," the Nurse Joy commented, "What's that all about?"

"A girl," Lily replied, holding in a smirk, "What else?" She and her Pokémon walked past them, neither one noticing their "true love's" exit. Having ditched the fighting boys, she made her way to the gym. She started making conversation with the lady that sat at the desk. "Mind if I sit?"

"Not at all! Your Growlithe looks cute in that bandana."

"Thanks. Being a breeder, that means a lot."

"You're a breeder? Would you mind filling in for our local one in the class tomorrow. Poor Theo's sick with the flu!"

"Sure, why not?"

"All of your Pokémon look very well. You must have raised them yourself."

"I can't really take credit for Blaze or this Pidgeotto, Zenith. The only one I've really raised from an egg is Snapdragon, the Bulbasuar sniffing that flower over there."

"How'd you get a young Bulbasaur?"

"A couple that Professor Oak kept ended up breeding. He hatched the egg and gave Snap to me. I get to keep him." The door opened, and out came a depressed and sulking Ty.

_I know that look. He must've lost. Oh well, happens to the best of us._ Erika came out after him. The lady went up to her.

"This young lady has agreed to fill in for Theo tomorrow." Erika smiled and picked up Snap.

"You must be Ty's friend, Lily. I remember him talking about you last time we fought. It was a very close battle. I have to take all my Pokémon to the center now!" She petted Snap a few times before handing him to Lily. "You have raised him well."

"Which one, Ty or Snap?" Erika giggled.

"Both."

"So… do you know about Ty…?"

"Liking me? I think it's cute. I know he'll eventually outgrow it, but it's still funny to see him blush."

"I won't tell him. I'll see you tomorrow." She left the gym and headed back to the center.


	11. Schooled

The next morning, Ty and Lily were downstairs in the center's cafeteria eating breakfast. Ty still seemed downcast from his defeat, and it drove Lily nuts. He just sat there, eating his breakfast and not saying a word. Whenever she talked to him, he didn't show that he listened.

"You'll get her next time. You know, John's in town and he really wants to battle you. Maybe it'll help you think of something." He looked up.

"Huh?"

"Fine, drown in self pity for all I care! I have an appointment at the gym!" She grabbed her stuff and left in a huff, Blaze following her at a distance. Ty sighed and banged his head on the table. Of course, he knew she was right, as almost always. He hated loosing, but it had never affected him this much. He accepted the fact that he couldn't win every single battle, but this defeat just wore him down.

_Maybe I'm just bored with gym battles. I need a trainer, and I know the perfect person._ He got up and went off to find John, who was currently sleeping. Ty covered his ears once he reached his floor. _I'm so glad he doesn't travel with us._

Lily entered the gym and made her way through the green house. Snap came out of his ball, attracted by all the flowers.

"I hope they ask us to battle, we need the practice," Lily stated, "Now that I think about it, we haven't battled any one besides Ty or Rockets, and Ty goes easy on us!" Erika came out.

"Hello, Lily. We're waiting for you."

"Okay, let's go guys." They entered a room, Blaze having to stop Snap from munching down on a flower.

John took forever to wake up. He came into the hall, still wearing a gray T-shirt he slept in and his boxer shorts.

"Ready to battle?"

"Sure."

"Aren't you going to get dressed?"

"Nah, I'm just going back to bed after this." They both went outside, despite girls giggling at the sight of John in his PJs.

"How many?"

"One on one, like when we first met."

"Alright then, Blastoise!"

"Charizard!" The dragon appeared to be a direct reflection of his trainer, as it yawned and looked rather sleepy.

"Water Gun!"

"Fly and use Flamethrower!" The attack harmlessly hit the shell. "Try Seismic Toss!" Charizard lifted Blastoise up into the air, flew in a loop, and dived back towards the ground. Ty calmly watched them come down, biding for his moment. John unleashed some banter. "Your Blastoise is finished! Nothing can escape his toss!" Ty smiled.

"Blastoise, now!" Blastoise grabbed Charizard's shoulders and lunged forward, flipping him over. The two fell towards the earth. Several people looked up to see the two hurtling towards the ground. THUD! A giant dust cloud formed. Everybody waited.

"So remember, breeding is about making your Pokémon look and feel good. Every Pokémon is different, and certain types have different needs. For example, Blaze here needs protein while Snap needs cellulose. Zenith can eat pretty much anything. Food at the market is alright to use. Your Pokémon will thank you, especially if you can't cook to save your life." One of Erika's helpers rushed in, just as Lily finished up her mini lesson.

"Lady Erika, Rockets have been spotted on the route coming into the city. They've stolen several Pokémon already and trainers are afraid to come." Lily picked up her backpack.

"Where are you going?" Erika asked, "I thought you wanted to leave Ty alone today."

"I'm going to take care of those Rockets. They'll see you coming a mile away and hide. If I go, they won't suspect a thing, especially if I claim to despise battling. Don't tell Ty, he hates it when I pull stunts like this."

"But…"

"It's no use, my mind's made up. Okay guys, back into your balls. We're going to do a little ambushing of our own." She left.

"Be careful…" Lily walked out of the city, with Blaze sticking to her side. Naturally, she thought the Rockets were Joe and Dan. She never imagined the real Rockets were so close. She was snapped out of her thought when Blaze started growling.

_Odd, he doesn't usually growl at Dan and Joe. It must be somebody else, hopefully not Trapper._

Two men popped out in front of her. Blaze put himself between them, growling and raising the fur on his back, bearing his teeth. Lily glanced side to side, trying to come up with a plan. She spotted all the balls they collected.

"Okay kid, fork over that overprotective Growlithe of yours and we won't harm you." She simply smirked.

"Give back the stolen Pokémon and I won't harm you."

"What's a girl like you going to do to grown men like us?" She snapped her fingers, summoning out Snap and Zenith. The two Rockets began laughing.

"A common Pokémon and a starter? You think they can beat us?"

"No, but I think they can cause a distraction. Take it away with Razor Leaf and Whirlwind!" She stepped aside as the two did their attacks. She simply walked around the blast and picked up the bag and walked back. Snap and Zenith stopped their attack. The two men looked at her with malice and dove for her. She stepped to the side as they piled on top of each other. She slung the sack over her back and began walking back.

"We'll get you! Every Rocket will know your name and you'll pay!"

"But what is my name?" They began to run after her. She looked back."Sandstorm, please." Zenith complied, kicking up sand and preventing the Grunts from following them. They arrived back at the gym where Lily calmly put the sack back down.

"How'd…?"

"Rockets grunts don't have brains. See you tomorrow Erika." She walked back to the center where Ty stood over a sleeping John. "What'd you do to him?"

"Nothing, he just lost our battle and fell asleep. Let's get him and his Charizard back into the Center." Ty picked up John while Lily returned Charizard to his ball. "How was the class?"

"Uneventful for the most part."

"That's good. I was worried that you got yourself into trouble."

Lily smiled.

_He'll never know…._


	12. Trouble

The next day, Ty went out for a jog before breakfast. Lily and her Pokémon slept in, seeing no reason to get up extra early. He came in from his jog, once again tripping over Snap, who always seemed to migrate from his sleeping spot. The Bulbasaur woke up.

"Sorry Snap! Sh, don't wake…" He tripped over Lily's backpack, grabbing the sheet to catch himself. Lily, tangled in the sheet, came off with it. Blaze, sleeping on top of the sheet, was pushed off. She landed on top of Ty. Snap had scrambled out of the way and Zenith perched on the top bunk, watching it all unfold. Lily climbed off him and untangled herself.

"You're worse the Snorlax!" she declared, "Look what you did!"

"Snap tripped me! Then your stupid backpack was in the way… again!"

"Well, forgive me for carrying our food supplies!"

"We wouldn't need so much if we traveled faster!" The argument continued through breakfast, evolving into one about the things they found annoying about each other.

"At least I don't have to straighten my headband every three seconds like you and your dumb "lucky" hat!" Ty shifted his hat. "You're doing it again!"

"I was not!" They entered the gym. Ty went up to the battlefield and looked back at Lily. She blew a raspberry and took a seat. He rolled his eyes and focused forward. The ref lowered her flags.

"Begin!"

Erika sighed as her Scyther fell to the ground. Across from it, stood a triumphant Gengar. Ty returned him after the ref declared him the winner. Instead of thanking the gym leader and asking right away for interview, he resumed his argument with Lily.

"You made Salamence aim that hyper beam at us on purpose!"

"How was I supposed to know he somehow drank all of the Center's coffee? I suppose Typhlosion did something to you instead of that Victrebell now."

"No, I was fine with him. It's that hyper beam that got me nervous. Poor Tangela!" Erika came up to Ty and shook his hand, making him blush.

"Sorry, Lily and I have had a little too much togetherness and we've gotten on each other nerves."

"Let's do the interview and give you both time to cool off. She must not be too mad at you, she watched your battle."

"I'm not too sure…"

"Let go of me!" they heard her shout, "This is kidnapping."

"You're much too tense," a lady explained to her, "We have the perfect solution, aroma therapy."

"I'm not tense!" They put her in a room along with her Pokémon. Easy listening music played while a very sweet scent filled the air. She sighed and pulled out a book.

_I can always catch up on my reading. Ty will get me out of here after his interview. _ Just as she got into the book, a noise came from the roof. She called over Blaze and Zenith, picking up a sleeping Snap. They hid behind a tree and kept quiet. A black boot kicked off a tile, which crashed to the ground.

"Quiet! We don't want to be discovered."

"I know." Two figures jumped down. As Lily had predicted, they were Rockets. They glanced around and got a sack.

"We'll get a big bonus for pulling off this heist."

"Not even Cassidy and Bob could get into the Cerulean gym! Where do you think they put all the Pokémon?" Lily held her breathe while they walked by. They had no idea that the door locked from the outside, so they wouldn't be able to get out. She didn't know what she would do then. These two didn't appear to be anything but Grunts, but she knew that looks could be deceiving. She kept her Pokémon at bay, waiting for a plan to come to mind.

_I can't take them by myself. I need to alert the whole gym. They'll be too busy trying to get away to notice me. _ She looked up at the fire alarm. She put down Snap and jumped. The handle came down, setting of an alarm. Some paint sprayed, coloring her hand purple. She let go, hiding her hand in her pocket. The Rockets rushed back to the open ceiling tile.

"Who blew the whistle?"

"I don't know, but let's get out of here before."

"Flamethrower!" Blaze tagged one of them in the seat. He looked back.

"It's that kid that gave those two trouble yesterday! Let's get the little…"

"Hydro Cannon!" The two Grunts were swept away by a blast of water. Ty came running in, followed by Blastoise and Erika. Ty nearly ran Lily over, looking around. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Ty. They were after Erika's Pokémon."

"Did you battle them?" She pulled out her purple hand.

"It won't come off!"

"It'll take a week to come off," Erika explained, "We had a problem with prank drills, so that's how we found out who was doing it. This is the third gym this weeks that the Rockets have attempted to rob. They appear to be going in order."

"Call Koga and Blaine next," Ty suggested, "They're next."

"What about the Viridian gym?" Lily asked, "That's in the middle of Rocket ground."

"It would be suicide breaking into that place. Let's just say they last person who tried to has a body cast."

"Oh…"

"Let's go, Lily. If we stay ahead of the pattern, we won't get involved."

"Fine, it was nice meeting you, Erika."

"You too, Lily. Both of you please be careful." Lily returned Snap before going after Ty, followed by Snap and Zenith.

A couple of days later, Lily whistled happy tune as they traveled along the route. There had been no sign of Rockets, not even Dan or Joe. They found their conversation drifting to Scyther.

"I know they're supposed to be aggressive, but your Scyther seems to be that way towards everybody, especially me." Ty looked down at his ball in his hand. "I think he's just frustrated that he's been to three regions but hasn't evolved. I don't know why, he's certainly strong enough. Hopefully he will soon. How much further to Fuscha?" Lily got out her Nav, and whacked it a couple of times.

"Darn thing's not getting any signal! I have no idea if we're even going the right."

"Maybe we'll meet someone and ask for directions. Once we reach town, we'll ask someone to look at the Nav. You might need a new one." Blaze stopped and growled towards some bushes. Ty approached them carefully and pushed them aside. Lily came up behind him. In a clearing, they saw an antenna. There appeared to be nobody around it.

"Was that there before?"

"No, I've never seen it. It can't be a gear tower, barely anyone lives out here."

"That's what we thought too. We didn't count on nosey twerps finding us."

"I'm not looking behind us," Lily told Ty, "I know there are two Rockets back there. What now?"

"Uh…"

"Run!" She picked up Blaze and dragged him along with her. The Rockets went after them.


	13. Luck

**Last time we saw our heroes, they were pursued by Rocket Grunts…**

Ty didn't mind getting dragged by Lily, she had done it to him often enough when they were younger. He did mind, however, the two Grunts closing on them. If Lily would let him up, they could run faster. The problem was that this was one of Lily's famous last minute plans. Those never went very well. Now their lives and sanity depended on it. He sighed and caught his feet on the ground. Sensing his movement, Lily let go of his arm and got a tighter grip on Blaze. Ty ran up beside her, pulling a Poke ball off his belt.

_Please be Salamence!_ He pressed the button, letting blinding light out. Instead of Salamence, it was Blastoise. The Pokémon had sensed the panic inside the ball and was ready for battle. The Grunts skidded to a stop as the Pokémon towered over them.

"Whoa! That one twerp's packing some serious muscle!"

"Let's inform the higher-ups," one stated, watching the two kids run off into the forest, "They'll get them." Blastoise snorted, sending them fleeing. He watched in satisfaction, and then lumbered into the forest where his trainer had gone. Ty and Lily didn't stop running until they were nearly a mile away. Neither one of them was in the best of shape, so they were exhausted. Ty collapsed onto the ground and faced the sky. Lily let go of Blaze and leaned against a tree.

"That was too close!" she exclaimed, "What was that all about?"

"I don't know. I have a feeling that Team Rocket is up to no good. They won't give up on looking for us, now that we've seen that antenna."

"That's a comforting thought. What do we do, Strategist?"

"We keep on plowing towards Fuscha. The closer to civilization we get, the more likely there'll be someone that can help us."

"One problem, we have no idea where we're going!"

"Sh! Not so loud, Lily! They night hear you!" She covered her mouth and looked around. Blaze sniffed the air, then the ground. Something caught his attention. He pulled on her sleeve. "What is it, Blaze?" He bounded into the bushes. Both trainers got up and followed him. After running a bit more, they arrived at a lake. Blastoise surfaced, casting an annoyed look at Ty.

"Sorry about that, buddy. I almost forgot about you. Let's get out of here before…"

"I heard something that way!"

"It must be those kids!" Lily glanced at Ty for an idea. He took a deep breath and slipped into the water. She took Blaze's bandana off and released him. He ran into some bushes. She slipped in the water. Blastoise also submerged, keeping careful watch on their air supply. Lily pulled out a couple of masks and handed one to Ty. They wouldn't have to worry about air now. They watched the murky figures of the Rockets on the bank.

"I thought I heard something. I know I did."

"Those two brats are probably just hiding somewhere near here. We'll split up. Even if they're still together, I think one of us could outmatch both of them. It's not like either one of them is an experienced trainer." Lily eyed Ty, who shrugged. The figures walked away. After a while, they surfaced. Blastoise came after them and took them to the bank. Lily staggered onto landed, weighed down by wet clothes and hair. Ty nimbly jumped onto the bank.

"Thanks buddy. You deserve a rest." He returned him. Blaze, who had watched from the bushes, came bounding up and jumped on Lily. She squeezed his bandana out and put it on him. She then began trying to get herself dry. She came up with an idea.

"Zenith, use Gust!" The Pidgeotto came out and flapped her mighty wings, blow drying them. Ty was practically dry, but Lily's hair was still a little wet. She returned her.

"Alright, let's go. We've wasted enough time. They'll never find us." Blaze started growling, the fur on his back standing up. The two teens were suddenly aware of a presence.

"You know what, Mr. Big Mouth? I official hate your guts at this moment," Lily sneered at Ty.

"I hate me too. Now what?"

"I don't know. Are they Grunts or Admins?"

"Let's just go with Admins."

"Alright you two, turn around real slowly." Ty chuckled.

"It kind of sounds like they…" A click interrupted him. "… Have guns." Both he and Lily turned around to face the Rockets. They didn't recognize either of them, but one of the Admins recognized them. He lowered his gun while his partner kept it trained on both of them.

"This seems to be our lucky day, Mark. Not only did we catch nosy twerps, we caught the Strategist. The girl must be Lily Kline, his girlfriend."

"Actually, we're just friends," Lily confirmed, eyeing Blaze, "Calm down, Blaze. They have boom boom sticks…" The Growlithe lowered his fur and backed up, but still growled at the two Admins.

"What do we do with them, Tony?" Mark asked, undoing the safety, "Have we received any special orders lately?"

"Yes, but our intelligence stated that they wouldn't be here until the day after tomorrow. You two make really good time."

"It's a gift," Ty stated, "What exactly was the special order?"

"Originally, it was to give you two a warning. We'll do that first, and then we'll take you back to base."

"I blame you," Lily spat to Ty, "If you weren't so darn good at battling…"

"Quiet!" Mark snapped, "Before I give you a hole in the leg!" Lily's eyes widened, and she gulped. Tony put his gun into his holster and came up to Ty.

"You seemed to have caught the Boss's interest. I heard you declined an invitation from Admin Trapper to join our little organization. You see, once the Boss has interest in something, he doesn't give up until he has it."

_Typical, why do I have to be so darn good?_

"He'll be happy that we got you. As for you, you sneaky she devil…" He turned to Lily. Blaze placed himself between them. "… You have been nothing but an annoyance. We didn't care, until you pulled that stunt in Celadon."

"What stunt?" Ty blurted out, "She was busy…Lily…"

"This isn't the best time to talk about it," she stressed, "As you were saying…"

"You're going to get yours." He looked down a Blaze, "And so is your furry little security system. Now if both of you would kindly hand over any Poke balls you might have lying around…" Ty undid his belt and tossed it to the ground. Lily pulled a couple out of her pocket, enlarged them, and set them down.

"What about the mutt?" Mark inquired.

"Yes, what about the mu- Blaze?" Lily stated, "He buried his ball in my backyard. We have yet to find it."

"If he doesn't want to see either of his trainers hurt, he'll be a good little puppy." Tony reached down and touched his head. Blaze snapped and bit his hand. The Admin yelled, trying to get his hand loose. The Growlithe shook a couple of times. Mark reacted quickly, nearly pulling the trigger.

"Blaze, release him!" He let go. The Admin held his hand close to his body and inspected the damage.

"Darn mutt… it's bleeding." He pushed Lily and Ty aside and put his hand in the water.

"You might not want to do that," Ty warned, "You never know what might…"

"Shut up, kid! Mark, take them back to base before something else happens with that psycho hound of hers."

"Let's move it, now!" When things looked bleak, a miracle happened. Apparently, some very territorial Seaking lived in the lake and had sensed Lily and Ty's earlier disturbance. The school traveled near the bank, just to see Mark stick his hand in and pollute it with his blood. They jumped, ramming him and pushed him into Tony. Ty started running, grabbing his belt. Lily snatched up her items and came after him. Tony raised his gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet went off target and hit a tree instead. Ty and Lily left the two to deal with the Seaking.

"How much further…?"

"I don't know, just run as fast as you can!" They sprinted off.

"Wasn't that really lucky?" Ty asked, "I told you we would survive."

"Pah! It was more like a deus ex machina."

"A what?"

"Never mind."


	14. Ninja Gym of Doom

Lily and Ty nearly collapsed, having turned a couple day trip into a few hours run. Blaze also laid down, exhausted. Ty looked around and laughed.

"Hey look, we're at the gym!"

"Let me die first, and then I'll be ready to go. Where's the nearest Center?"

"That's the thing. The gym's outside the city." She groaned, lying back down. He pulled his hat over his eyes and tried to relax. Soon, he was softly snoring. Lily felt like doing the same thing, but not in a gym leader's front yard. Both Zenith and Snap were released.

"Snap, wake up Ty." The Bulbasaur gently shook the sleeping trainer. He yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Huh…?"

"I don't think Koga would appreciate us sleeping in his front yard. You might as well get your battle over with."

"I guess you're right." He leapt up and helped her up. They entered gym. Lily looked around, and found something odd.

"Where's the battlefield?"

"I forgot to tell you that. Koga wants trainers to find the field, and he set up a bunch of traps to trick them up. I managed to get past them all, so just follow my lead and don't…" She stepped on a Voltorb, receiving a shock. "…. Get ahead of me."

"Ow…"

A few minutes later had found them past the shock traps and to the invisible walls. Blaze slammed into one. He growled at it and let out a Flamethrower. Lily, paying more attention on stopping him, also found herself stopped by a wall.

"Who puts invisible walls in their gym?"

"Koga does. Let's try going this way." She ran into another one. She backed up and leaned on the outside wall. The wall flipped, taking her outside. Luckily, she held onto it to prevent her from falling in the river below. Ty helped her up.

"I think this gym hates me."

"That should be the last of the traps. That should be the wall that flips into the battle room."

"I think I found it. Help me push!"

"Maybe you should go in the first."

"If you insist…" She pushed the wall, flipping it. "What in Arceus' name…?"

WHAP! Ty flipped the wall to find Lily pinned up by ninja stars. All she had to glare to get her message across.

"Sorry."

"You are a dead man." He stepped into the room. Koga appeared out of nowhere, observing the two kids with mild amusement.

"I wasn't expecting you so soon, Ty. I could never get you, but your friend is a different story."

"She's just unlucky. Can you unpin her so we can battle?" He removed the stars. She landed on her feet.

"Wait, where are my Pokémon?" About that time, a Flamethrower came through the wall. In walked a very annoyed Blaze, and an apprehensive Snap and Zenith. Lily grinned. Koga suddenly felt a headache coming on. She stood to the side, while the two battlers positioned themselves.

"Weezing!"

"Scyther!"

"Weezing, smoke screen!" Smoke covered the field, completely hiding it. Scyther anxiously looked around, trying to find it.

"Tackle!" Scyther fell over as it hit him. Ty assessed his situation and mad a choice.

"Scyther, come back. There's been a change in plans. Go, Snorlax!" For once, the giant was awake and pumped for a battle. "Start it off with Hyperbeam!"

"You can't hit what you can't see. Sludge Bomb!"It flew into Snorlax's eyes, blocking his sight. He tried to wipe it off, but it stuck. "Tackle!" Thanks to his thick skin, the attack did little damage. Still, there was no telling which attack would do major damage if the sludge wasn't taken care of.

"Don't panic! Imagine it's a giant apple and Headbutt!" Snorlax reached out and grabbed it. It went flying.

"Double edge!"

"Wait for it…" A few seconds went by. "…Now!" Snorlax let out a Hyperbeam, pushing the Weezing back, and soaring into the wall.

Meanwhile, Dan found it very difficult to avoid the traps.

"How did…" ZAP! "…Joe manage to get through? This guy knows how to keep burglars out." He eventually made it to where Joe recorded the battle. Dan sat beside him. "What did I miss?"

"Koga's Golbat used leech life on Snorlax. After that, the challenger sent out his Blastoise, beating the Golbat. Then Koga called out his Venemoth. Blastoise just got poisoned and his running low on health. What took you so long?"

"It took me awhile to find a news rack. Here's your stupid newspaper that I kept stepping on Voltorbs to get it."

"You can't go a day without your fashion magazines; I can't go a day without the news."

"Touché. It looks like Blastoise is down."

"The kid still has his Scyther. Hm, Team Rocket has made the front page. Do you know anything about all these gym break-ins?"

"Not a thing, but I think that… I think Scyther is evolving."

"What?"

After a bit, a Scizor stood in his place. Ty was ecstatic to have his Pokémon evolve, but Lily felt differently.

_Great, he can pinch me now._

"Gust!"

"Guillotine!" Venemoth ended up on the floor, knocked out.

"Return, my friend." Ty hugged his new Pokémon (much to Scizor's protest) as some Rockets came in through the ceiling, already carrying the Voltorbs.

"Uh oh, the gym leader's here. Let's jet!"

"Scizor, get the net please." A scarlet streak cut the net, releasing the very angry Voltorbs. "Scizor, use…" A Flamethrower sent the Rockets flying. Koga sighed as he looked at the hole in his roof and wall, both caused by Blaze.

"Would this be a bad time to ask for an interview?"

"Not at all, just let me contact my insurance company… and find some aspirin." When he walked away, Ty glared at Lily. At this point, she didn't care whether he was upset with her or not. She waved her hand and began to walk away.

"If you need me, I'll be at the Center taking a nap."

"Wait, there's…" There was an exclamation as she once again stepped on the Voltorbs."… A back door."

"You are dead, My Tomato!"

"It's Miyamato. Ah!"

She began chasing him around the battlefield. Her Pokémon simply sat down and fell asleep.


	15. Holiday Gone wrong

Ty and Lily decided to take their time to get to Cinnabar Island, since they felt like everybody, including them, needed a rest. She had out her guidebook, looking for the longest route to the nearest port town. She flipped through the pages.

"We seem to be going the right way. It says the there's a lake not too far from here."

"That would be nice. A couple of days by the lake without battle practice would do my Pokémon well. They deserve a rest."

"And another thing, there would be no Rockets, except for Dan and Joe."

"You do realize that there's a bush following us, right?"

"That would be Dan. Don't worry, Blaze can take care of him." She pointed at the bush, which stopped. Blaze wagged his tail and began running at it. The bush quickly ran off, with him on his heels. Lily called him back.

"What's the lake called?"

"According to this, the locals call it Lake Lao."

"Alright, onto Lake Lao!"

They arrived at Lake Lao around sunset. They released everybody to help with the camp set up. Lily's Pokémon helped her set up the tent she rarely used, while Ty's helped him set up a temporary shelter. After set up, Snap tugged on Lily's shirt. She looked down at the Bulbasaur.

"Sure, we can go explore."

"Don't' get lost!" Ty taunted, "Be careful!"

"Since when have I ever gotten lost?"

"Who managed to walk around Viridian City?"

"Shut up!" Snap and Lily went down to the lake front where Snap decided to splash around some. She sat near the water, watching the sunset. _It's beautiful. I can see this being a very romantic place, if I had somebody to be romantic with. Too bad boys are such jerks, like Dan and John. Now that I think about it, it seems more like a game to John. Maybe he likes annoying me. I'll have to ask him. And what about Joe? He's never really done anything harmful to me, aside from the Mart. I just wonder what his story is._

Snap swam out further when he saw a glow. Curious, he paddled over to it and investigated. Out of the light, a shadowy figure popped out. He quickly swam to the shore, trying to get Lily's attention. In her day dream, she hadn't even noticed the figure, even when it sank back down. Snap rammed into her stomach. She snapped out of it.

"What's the matter, Snap?" He pointed to the lake. She looked across the silent water. "I don't see anything. You just need to rest. This whole trip has been rather hard on us." He sighed, and laid down to rest. After a while, everybody in the camp was asleep.

Blaze stirred as he caught an unfamiliar scent in the wind. He let out a quiet growl and got up. He paws Blastoise, Zenith, Salamence, and Scizor. He expressed his concern of the unfamiliar person approaching, worried that it was a Rocket ambush. Zenith stood up, wanting to go look. Blastoise put a paw in her way, not wanting to give away their position. They split into two groups to ambush the ambusher. The person rode in on a Dragonite, which softly landed. The Trainer hopped off and looked through the fog, trying to decipher a picture.

"We've finally arrived. Now we have to wait for the fog to lift so we can do our job and get out of here before anyone notices." Blaze charged, nabbing his leg. "Ow!" Salamence and Blastoise kept the Dragonite busy while zenith and Scizor helped restrain the human. He struggled."What do you want from me?" The noise woke both Lily and Ty up. They quickly rushed towards, concerned about their Pokémon. She slipped on her head band, while he put on his hat.

"They got someone!"

"I wonder who it is. Oh great, it's him. Guys, stop it!" His Pokémon backed off.

"Blaze, Zenith…" They let go, coming over to her. Blaze continued to growl. The man rubbed his leg and dusted off his pants.

"Sorry about that," Ty apologized, "Blaze here probably thought you were a Rocket. We've been running into them lately."

"Really? I haven't seen any."

"Who are you?' Lily asked the man, "I should know your face, but the name's not coming to mind."

"I'm Lance of the Elite Four."

"Oh yeah, the dragon guy. I'm Lily Kline."

"Yes, I've met your father a few times. I didn't know you were traveling with Ty." She turned to Ty.

"You know him?" Ty shrugged.

"We've met a couple of times, but that's about it. What are you doing here, Lance? Does it have to do with Team Rocket?" Lance shot a serious glare at him.

"I need you two and your Pokémon to get out of here. It's too dangerous."

"Hey, we were her first!" Lily protested, "You have not right to kick us out just because you're some super trainer!"

"I won't ask again. Please leave the area." Ty tugged on her backpack, in case he had to hold her back.

"Lily, I think we might want to do as he says…'

"No! I want to relax and I'm not going to let some hotshot boss me around!" A vein appeared on Lance's forehead. To prevent a physical conflict, Ty stepped in between the two.

"Lance, if you tell us why you want us to leave, Lily would be more willing to listen."

"I'll tell you, but don't go looking for trouble."

"We don't have to. It finds us," Lily commented, glaring at Lance.

"I won't be too happy if I have to rescue you. There's a shiny Gyarados that Lives in this lake. It's much older than my red one and it only comes out once and a while. It seems to be annoyed whenever anybody gets near it, yet it's not very aggressive. Since Team Rocket appears interested in rare and powerful Pokémon, it's only logical that they'll come after."

"And you know that they won't put up a fair fight," Ty stated, "I've seen them do it."

"Right, I intend to capture it and relocate to where it won't be bothered. It seems to find humans annoying. They're going to build a resort by this lake, so I want to move it before someone gets hurt, whether it meant to or not. I suspect the Rockets will come knocking around any moment now. I don't want to be held responsible for your safety."

"That sounds sensible enough. Come on Lily, let's go."

"I don't know. I would feel guilty for leaving him alone with the Rockets, even if he is a really good trainer." Lance smiled.

"Don't worry about me. I can…" Blaze barked in alarm, directing their attention to the lake. A figure popped out of a bright lake. Snap, recognizing it, dived into Lily's backpack on the ground. The sun reflected off the figure, nearly blinding them. There towered a massive Gyarados with beautiful gold scales.

"Whoa, it's majestic," Lily commented. The Gyarados glared at them.

"It doesn't look to happy," Ty noted, "Scatter!" It let out a blast, cutting a path in the forest.

"Dragonite, metal claw!"

"Salamence, you use dragon's breath!"

"Zenith, Aerial Ace!" Dragonite got his hit in, but it knocked him aside with its head, slammed Salamence with its tail, and blew Zenith down. She half landed, half crashed onto the ground. Lily went after her. It lunged.

"Look out!" Ty warned, "Get out of there!" She looked up, seeing it charging. She quickly grabbed Zenith and went to run. It suddenly stopped. She looked into its red eyes.

_Why'd it stop?_

"Dragonite, ram it!' It easily dodged, hit it and went back to string at Lily. It inched closely and sniffed her. It drew back a little, tilting its head. It came back, and rubbed its head on her, nearly knocking her over. Lance watched the curious happening. "Lily, get away from…" The Gyarados hummed like a pussy cat, rubbing her. "Odd, very odd…" He took a step towards it. He roared at him. Ty stepped up to him. He did the same thing that he had done to Lily, and began rubbing him.

"What's going…?" Ty asked, before being interrupted

"Look out!" Lance yelled, "It's…!" A helicopter flew by, dropping a net. It caught Gyarados, but it also got Lily, Ty, and Zenith. A thick haze covered the area, preventing Lance from taking any actions. Once Salamence cleared the fog, the helicopter had disappeared. Lance cursed to himself when he felt something tug on his pants. He looked down to see Snap looking expectantly at him. In fact, all of the Pokémon were looking at him that way. He came up with an idea.

"Salamence, Gengar, Typhlosion, and Blaze, come with me. The rest of you follow us on the ground, got it?" They all nodded. He mounted Dragonite, helping Blaze and Typhlosion get on him, "Alright, let's go!" He took off, with the rest of the pack following on the ground.

The Gyarados struggled, shaking the helicopter. The net began to cut into the two teens, who protested. The ground opened up, revealing a secret underground base. The net was lowered, the helicopter landing next to it. He thrashed, knocking away anyone who approached him.

"Keep it down!"

"We can't get the net any tighter!"

"No wonder, we have hitchhikers!"

"What kind?"

"The twerp kind."

"Let the Admin know and get them out of there!"

"What's going on here?" the new voice shouted, "Stop its squirming!"

"Admin, we have twerps." The Admin stepped down. Both Lily and Ty let out a groan.

"You must be kidding me!" Lily exclaimed, "Of all the new Admins we could've met, it had to be him!"

"Why does it always have to be you?" Ty wondered, "I just can't get rid of you!"

"Nice to see you too, Tyler. Didn't you miss your old pal Trapper?" Ty scoffed. He smirked as the Grunts got them out and came up to them. "If you would, I believe you have some Pokémon our Boss might be mildly interested in." Ty grumbled, feeling for the belt, but finding it empty. Now it was his turn to smirk.

"Sorry, but I seemed to have to left them at the lake. We were on a little holiday when you netted us."

"I suppose you have the same excuse, Lily."

"Unless… Do you want my very unhappy Pidegeotto who has a grudge against your Skarmory?" Zenith had perched on her shoulder, daring him to touch her.

"You can have that silly bird of yours. I believe you two have a price on your head." He led them to his office, locking the door behind them. They sat down on a couch, while he sat behind a desk and put his feet on it. Zenith watched him carefully. "This is usual Rocket procedure," he explained, "If you capture a powerful Pokémon and some twerps- that would be you two- come with it, you ask them what they were doing with it or around it. We already did that part. Now if you have any insults, comebacks, etc., say them now or forever hold your peace."

"What's the reward for turning us over to the "Boss"?" Ty inquired, "Money?"

"That's part of it. If we, for example, turn in her, we get a big bonus and that's about it. If we only turn you over, we get an even bigger bonus. If we turn in both of you, we get not only a big bonus, but a promotion."

"How come he fetches more than me? I'm the one that constantly annoys you."

"We've noticed, but what the Boss wants, the Boss gets. How did two kids like you manage to get three feet from that Gyarados?" They both shrugged and glanced at the window, which had a view of the whole base. A Grunt went flying. Ty nearly chuckled to himself, the poor Grunt reminding him of a Magikarp.

_Magikarp…. That's it!_

"Do you remember Pallet Town?" Lily looked at him, confused.

"I'm not sure now is the best to get nostalgic, Ty."

"It's the perfect time," Trapper remarked, "It might be the last time that you can go back to peaceful little Pallet Town."

"We weren't that old, maybe four. The adults had a party at Prof. Oak's ranch for some reason. The kids got bored and decided to explore. Naturally, Gary bragged about how he had the whole place memorized."

"Let me guess, Ash said he didn't and they got into an argument," Lily cut in, "And then I dragged you somewhere…"

"…Straight to a river leading to the lake. There, we found a Magikarp that had somehow managed to get on the bank but was unable to get back into the river. We dragged back to the river, probably saving it."

"Yeah, I remember that. What about it?"

"It had gold scales."

"That detail seems to have escaped me. So, what's this got to do with…? You aren't saying that…"

"Lance did say that it was older than his Gyarados. If I recall correctly, Dragon types have a really good memory. Why else would a wild Gyarados start acting like a Meowth?" She whistled.

"Wow, that's so weird." The Admin suddenly got an evil gleam in his eye. Both Lily and Ty made a break for it, already guessing his diabolical intentions. He made a grab for Lily, but Zenith snapped at him. Ty went crashing through the window onto the nearest support beam. Lily soon followed. They ran across it, stopping in the middle. Two Grunts got onto it.

"Lily!"

"Yeah?"

"You know how I was supposed to take self defense lessons from Bruno… well I kind of didn't. I went to a battle tournament instead."

"When were you going to tell me this?"

"Uh…" She sighed.

"Zenith, use Gust!" She hopped off her shoulder and blew the two Grunts off, "Now what, Sherlock?"

"We wait for Lance to rescue us."

"Well, so much for self reliance. Incoming Skarmory!"

"Wha-?" Lily ducked as it flew right above them, but it managed to knock Ty off. A beam ripped through the roof. In flew Lance and his Dragonite followed by Salamence and Gengar. Salamence caught Ty on his back.

"About time you got here!" he yelled at Lance, "Here's the situation in a nutshell! That Gyarados was once a Magikarp that Lily and I rescued when we were four! The Admin thinks he can use us to control him!" Lily kicked a Grunt off as he flew by.

"Mind if I hitch I ride?" She jumped onto Salamence with him.

"Watch the thunderbolt!" Lance warned. Salamence easily avoided it. Lily looked down.

"I have an idea, but we need to land!"

"We can't! There are too many Rockets! It would be suicide!" A crash was heard on the roof and a shadow came into the room. All the Grunts looked up to see Snorlax descending on them. They quickly scattered. BOOM! A crater formed where he landed. A Blastoise jumped down on top of him while Scizor carried Snap down. Salamence landed, letting Lily off. Blaze and Typhlosion hopped off Dragonite. With some of the Pokémon's help, she managed to pull the net off. She went up to the front of the Gyarados.

"Listen, the only way I can think to get you out of here is to catch you. I can always release you or give you to Lance. Will you do that for me?" He nodded. Before she could get the Poke ball out, a bunch of Krabby started chasing her. Trapper scanned the chaos until he found Ty's hat. He dived after it, getting the person wearing it in a headlock. He pulled out a tiny gun.

"Nobody move or I'll blast his brains out!" Everybody stopped and stared at him. A Grunt finally spoke up.

"Sir, that's Roger." He looked down to see that he really did have the wrong person.

"Roger, what are you doing with that hat?"

"I don't know, I think that kid put it on me!" He let go of the poor Grunt and looked over to the worn out Gyarados. He pulled a Master Ball out of his pocket. "I'm going to catch that Gyarados." He pitched it. Lily noticed it and did the only thing she could think of.

"Blaze, Fetch!" She pointed at it, seeing his eyes light up. He rushed to it, thinking it was a game. He jumped, catching it in midair. He padded back to Lily and handed it to her. She wiped off the drool and Took out a regular Poke ball. After throwing it, it zapped the Gyarados in. After a few seconds, it clicked. Blaze fetched that too. "Guys, I got him." Everybody except the Rockets quickly left.

Trapper let out a frustrated growl as they flew off. The Boos wasn't going to happy about this. Not only had they been beaten by twerps and lost a powerful Pokémon, but a rare Master Ball had also been snatched. He looked at Ty's hat and picked it up.

_Maybe I can use his scent to track him with Houndooms…_ A Murkrow flew in and snatched it, carrying it off. All the Grunts backed away as a vein emerged from his forehead.

"Pack up; the police will be here soon." Nobody moved. "Now!" The Grunts scattered, running over Roger in the process.

By the lake, Lily handed the ball to Lance. The two packed up their camp and recalled all their Pokémon, planning to head out. Once they walked a bit, Lance caught up to them. He threw Lily the ball.

"You keep him! He likes you well enough!" He hopped back on his Dragonite and flew off. They continued walking.

"What are you going to call him?" Ty asked. She pondered for a moment.

"I like the name Oro."

"What does that mean?"

"It means gold. Let's head to Cinnabar. What am I going to do with this Master Ball?"

"Who cares? My poor hat is missing!"

"I'll buy you a new one. I mean, everybody wears a red hat it seems like."

"But I've had that hat ever since my journey started! It's my good luck charm!" A Murkrow flew by, dropping something. "My hat!"

"Oh boy, what cliché luck."

"Hey, we're almost finished! What's the worst that can happen?"

_Why did I suddenly get this ominous feeling? _


	16. The Truce

They arrived at Cinnabar Island a few days later, completely rested from the Lake Lao ordeal. At least, it appeared so until Lily ate some rotten food and nearly threw up. She rushed to the nearest restroom, feeling another pain in her stomach. All her Pokémon turned to Ty for advice.

"Next time, we're flying on Salamence. You stay here and wait for her. I'm just run to the gym to set up a battle. Be back in a few." About the time he left, another familiar duo came off the boat in civilian clothing. Joe groaned, dragging himself off the boat.

"Get up!" Dan urged, "Ty's going to the gym!"

"You do the recording this time! You should be smart enough to figure it out. I'm just going to go hurl, nothing major. Don't get distracted or I will dump you in the middle of the ocean." Dan shrugged and followed Ty while Joe rushed into the restroom, not noticing Snap, Zenith, or Blaze.

Ty arrived at the gym. The gym leader, Blaine, walked out. Ty ran to catch up with him.

"Excuse me, I'm Tyler Miyamato and I was wondering…!"

"Sorry, I'm all battled out today? I tell you what; I'll battle you first thing in the morning. How does eight sound?"

"Sure…"

"Good, I can hardly wait! See you then!" Ty watched him walk off; He turned around to walk back to the docks, but slammed into someone. Once he got a good look at the person he collided with, he let out a groan. "I know you're supposed to follow us, but I don't think your superiors meant that closely."

"You're the one going the wrong way! Is it my fault that I get distracted so…. Oh, pretty girl…"

"And you wonder why Lily doesn't like you."

"But she likes you."

"I've been friends with her ever since we were in diapers, so I hope so."

"That's not what I meant, Mr. Smart Guy. Have you ever heard of the girl next door love scenario?"

"Of course, but Lily and I aren't…."

"Look, it's okay if you're a little shy about admitting it. After all, we're technically enemies; we shouldn't even be talking this casual. But as a favor, I'm willing to help you out with your girl situation. I know, it seems odd, but if you and Lily get together and it doesn't work out, I have less competition to worry about."

"You are nuts."

Meanwhile, both Joe and Lily came out of the restroom. They glanced at each other looking away; telling themselves they had no seen them. One more look at confirmed their fears were true. Lily broke the ice.

"I got food poisoning. What ails you?"

"Seasickness as it always is. Look kid, I don't really feel like battling you."

"Neither do I? And you claim you aren't following us?"

"No, not this time. Both of you figured that out way before we even denied it."

"A Mankey could figure it out blindfolded. Ty's okay with it as long as neither one of you hinder us." The breeze blew in awkward silence.

"Now what?"

"I say we call a truce and wait for our partners while drinking smoothies."

"That sounds good." They started toward the boardwalk, followed by Lily's befuddled Pokémon.

"So… how old are you Joe?" He took a sip of his drink and stared at her.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just trying to make conversation."

"I'm seventeen."

"You're barely older than Ty! Why do you insist on calling us kids?"

"That's what I call anybody younger than me."

"Is Dan older than you then?"

"No, he's the same age. How about you?"

"I'll be 16 in a few days. We should be back in Pallet by then." He leaned back in his chair.

"It must be nice to have a home you can return to." Instead of responding to the statement, Lily put it away in her mental notes. She changed the subject.

"You seem to have a good relationship with your Cacturne. I didn't think Rockets usually did."

"But I am merely a Grunt, and therefore not the real bulk of Team Rocket. I'm different than them."

"Then why are you a Rocket?"

"I needed a job. Don't worry, I'll quit after this assignment. Nobody will care, I don't know anything important."

"What afterwards? You've got to have some dream." Joe simply chuckled.

"I don't need a dream. I go where the wind takes me. That's how I ended up here today. I don't need a boss to tell me how to live my life or a kid to tell me that I should have goal." She remained quiet after that.

Ty had it with Dan. The red head had badgered him about his and Lily's relationship the whole way back to the docks. He didn't need advice from a guy how drooled at nearly every chick he met. _Besides, I bet he's actually never had a date. _

"I think that you're deeply in love with her," Dan reasoned, "But you just don't know it yet. I'm telling you, all the signs are there."

"What signs?"

"You share the same room."

"So do most traveling groups…"

"But what if the room only had one bed? I could see you two sharing." Ty brightly blushed. "See! I was right!"

"Wouldn't you blush if somebody who didn't even really know you hint about sharing a bed with the girl you practically grew up with?"

"If I were in love with them, I would." Dan had no time to respond before he was pounced upon by an angry Ty. The two boys rolled in the dirt, shouting insults and trading blows.

Joe and Lily looked up to see Ty and Dan, both dirty and Dan sporting a new black eye. Joe casually got up and threw his cup away and headed to him.

"Congrats, Dan. You have officially been beaten up by a kid." Dan grumbled, ignored Lily, and dragged him away. Lily turned to Ty.

"What did he say to activate your aggressive side?"

"Nothing."

The next day, Ty and Lily showed up for the gym battle. After a while, it was down to one Pokémon each, and she was bored out of her mind. Ty and Blaine had somehow managed to beat each other into a stalemate that was taking forever to climb out of. Since they had decided to battle in the volcano, Zenith had gone off on a pleasure flight, Snap sunned, and Blaze bugged her to play fetch with him. Both Magmar and Blastoise were pretty fresh, so the deadlock would drag on even longer. She got up.

"Come on guys, let's go. I think I need to let Oro out." They followed her. Dan noticed her exit, and slipped away too. Joe sighed. The truth was that he felt extremely bored. This wasn't one of the kid's most exciting battles. He couldn't blame Dan for leaving, even though it was just to stalk the other kid. He picked up the newspaper. _How Long until Cinnabar is Also Invaded_? an article read.

Lily let Oro out in a small stream. The water dragon seemed thankful, not used to traveling in such small quarters. He rubbed his giant head against her.

"I love you too, big guy, but be so rough!" Blaze placed himself between him and Lily. He appreciated the muscle Oro bought to the team, but he was not stealing the affections of his human. His looked read out "Mine." Snap came back with some berries and other natural items used for healing.

"Thanks, we'll need these for the burns after this battle." Oro suddenly struck down and came back up. Dan's bottom half was hanging out, kicking around. Lily couldn't discern what he was saying. "Oro! You don't eat people even if they annoy you! Put him down!" Instead of doing so, he simply spat him out, sending him flying for half a mile. Blaze caught a scent in the wind and his ears wiggled. A growl made its way out of him. Zenith flew in, panicked.

"Oro, give me a lift!" She climbed onto his head and he reared up. She gasped at the sight of a fleet of helicopters, all heading towards the island. "Why now? You could've waited until we left!"


	17. Rocket and Roll

Lily whistled for Zenith, the Pidgeotto quickly flew over to her. She leaned over and whispered something to her. She nodded and flew off, wanting to complete her mission. Oro lowered his head, allowing Lily to get off. She turned her attention to the fleet of helicopters heading their direction.

"Okay Oro, let's see if we can't delay some of them. Just try not to make them crash and become a fiery ball of death. There are people that actually live on this island. Snap, go get help from any trainers. Do what you have to get their attention." He nodded and ran off. Oro reared back, firing off Hyperbeams and Waterguns. "Blaze, I need you to stay with me. They probably won't appreciate a fifteen year old girl using her shiny Gyarados to shoot down Rocket helicopters." She picked up her backpack.

A couple turned back smoking, but the others got post the defenses. Another couple dropped out, but the majority of the fleet was still airborne. Blaze steeped in front of her as the lead on landed. Oro flicked away with his tail, but people had already gotten out of it.

_Here comes the storm._ It didn't take long for the first Grunt to approach the trio. Blaze let out a growl, stopping him in his tracks. He kept eyeing Oro, aware that he was looming nearby. Once the Gyarados let out a warning, he nearly broke down.

"My leaders just wanted me to tell you that you're outnumbered ten to one! Please don't let it eat me!" He ran away. She looked around to see that the Rocket, no matter how much of a chicken he was, had been right. _We're going to need the whole region for this! Where's Zenith? I could really use Ty's…. Great, it's them!_ She had seen the leaders of the strike force, and recognized them from Cerulean.

"Cassidy and Buck!" she exclaimed, purposely messing up his name, hoping to stall, "I caught you trying to steal Pokémon from the Cerulean gym!" The guy fell over.

"The name's Butch! Can't you get it?"

"Sorry Bob." Cassidy grabbed his shirt before he could charge at her.

"Remember, we have orders to remove anyone in our way. Wouldn't you say that twerpette is directly in our path?" Butch evilly smiled.

_Dang it Ty, what's taking you so long?_ What she didn't know was that a helicopter had flown in the other way, straight to the volcano. Snap came running through, carrying a belt. Lily groaned as she knew who it belonged too. John came hopping behind, holding up his jeans.

"I need that belt to…" He noticed the Rocket invasion force. "Did I miss something?"

"Just get your Pokémon out and I'll give you back your belt!" she exclaimed, "Why are you here?"

"I was on vacation! Since when did you have a shiny Gyarados?"

"Catch up time is over!" Cassidy declared, tried of the banter and being ignored, "Now since you've refused to move, you're history!" She pulled out a bazooka from behind her.

"Isn't that overkill?" John yelped, eyes growing wide.

"Snap, sleep powder! Oro, help spread it!" The field was sun covered in it. One by one, the Rockets fell. Cassidy fell on top of Butch, asleep. Once the powder cleared, John rushed over.

"It'll delay them, but not forever," Lily noted, "Come on, I sent Zenith to go get Ty but she didn't come back. I have a feeling he's in trouble. Snap, Oro, return!"

"Charizard, take us to the gym, pronto!" They both hopped onto his back. He took off.

_Maybe I should take a vow of silence. "What's the worst that could happen?" I said. Are you happy to torment me, Arceus?_

The Rocket strike squad had busted in when he was about to deal the final blow to Magmar. Since he knew no self- defense, it hadn't been very difficult for them to tie him up and take his belt where all his tried Pokémon were. Naturally Blastoise tried to defend him, but Ty convinced to go back into his ball and rest. The same thing had happened with Blaine, but he had put up more of a fight.

Ty let out an audible sigh of annoyance, just to see if he could get someone's attention. Unfortunately, the leaders of the strike were Mark and Tony. Mark came over, visible pleased at the sight of him helpless.

"So much for being a tough guy. Without your Pokémon, you're as weak and powerless as anybody else. What's the saying, too much brains and not enough brawn? What do you have to say to that?"

"Go kiss a Mankey. I would come up with a more creative one, but I'll leave that to Lily." Mark gave him a swift kick in the side. He let out a yell and fell over. His hat slid off. The Admin stamped it into the ground before giving it to the Grunt who held his belt.

"Leave him alone!" Blaine exclaimed, "If you're going to pick on someone, pick on me! I'm the gym leader, he's just my challenger!"

"Sorry old man, but we only need your Pokémon," Tony stated, "We want his actual person, but your donation to Team Rocket is appreciated." He let out an annoyed growl.

"Why are you people doing this?" Ty let out a bitter laugh, stopping everybody in their tracks.

"Why didn't I see this before? The answer was in front of me, but I didn't notice it! Some strategist I am! They want to use type advantages to beat all the gym leaders. Their originally plan was to start from the beginning, until they realized that just because the first gyms deal with inexperienced Trainers, that the Pokémon were not necessarily weak. They could use your Pokémon to beat Erika's, hers for Misty's, hers for Flint's, and then his to attack Surge. By then, they would have enough to take on Koga and Sabrina by sheer numbers. The question is can they do it without anybody stopping them first?"

"Your girlfriend is nowhere in sight," Mark reminded him, "I thought you were the smart one of the bunch. It seems like she's smart enough to stay away." Ty looked at the sky, hoping to see something. He spotted Zenith hiding around the edge of the crater.

_Good job, Lily. Now if only you can get here in time…._

"She's not stupid, if that's what you're suggesting. She's actually quite intelligent." Zenith flew off, causing him to crack a smile.

"What are you smiling about?"

"You won't win this time. You might have beaten me, but there are plenty of Trainers who could take my place." Mark gave him another kick.

"Spoken like a true martyr. Believe me, nobody likes a martyr." A Grunt ran up.

"Team B is down and there's a Charizard carrying two Trainers and a Growlithe heading this way being led by a Pidgeotto!"

"Have you ID'ed the trainers?"

"We don't recognize the boy, but the girl is the one that was involved in both Celadon incidents and the Lake Lao disaster."

"You were saying?" Ty asked, feeling cocky for once, "She's with my rival, and he has some pretty powerful Pokémon. And they're fresh and energized."

"We're pulling out anyways. Get up." Mark pulled him out. About that time, Ty's gear rang. The Admin dug through his backpack until he found it.

"That's mine!" Mark answered it. Lily waited for Ty to respond. "Give me back my gear!"

"I wonder who's calling you. Should I just tell them that you're all tied up right now?" Lily covered the speaker as the Admin laughed.

"They have him. I recognize the answerer as one of the ones we met on the way to Fuscha that nearly shot us."

"Faster Charizard, I can't lose my top rival to Rockets!" Lily went back to her gear.

"Let him go!"

"Make me. Threats are more effective in person than over the phone."

"You're going to regret it if you hurt him."

"Too late, I've already kicked him twice. What are you going to do about it? At least with him in our care, we won't bother even coming after you." He hung up and dropped it on the ground. He handed off Ty to a couple of Grunts. They began piling into the helicopter. Ty spread his legs out and caught the sides of the door. They eventually pushed him in and the helicopter took off.

Lily and John arrived in time to see the helicopter fly off into the distance. John had to land Charizard before Lily could jump off in mid air from shock. She sat on the ground and Blaze joined her. He growled, frustrated by the situation. Zenith rested on her arm, feeling guilty for not taking any action when she had the chance. John looked the direction the copter had flown in and sighed, also disappointed.

"How do we get him back?" she wondered, "They left his Gear here, so we can't track him that way."

"I'll help," Blaine volunteered, "I think I might be able, with Prof. Oak's help, to use your Dex to track his Dex. Can you untie me?" Blaze bit the ropes off. "We need to get to town and inform the police. Then we'll narrow down the search, somehow. Once we have the radius, we can pinpoint his location once I get the connection working." She faced the direction the copter had gone. Blaze stood next to her.

_Hang on Ty; we're going to save you, no matter what._


	18. Wayward Strategist

Ty eventually woke up from accidently getting knocked out. He didn't know how people accidently knocked another person out, but it apparently could be done. He was still tied up, but both his hat and belt, minus his Pokémon, were back.

_I swear if they hurt them, I'll hunt them down and gut them like a…_ His thought went unfinished as two people walked in. One was a guy with a green hair, and the other was a woman with orange hair. They looked familiar, but he had to wait for his head to stop hurting to recall their names. The gut noticed him and nudged his partner.

"The kid's finally awake!" Ty shook his head a few times, trying to clear it.

Lily, John, Blaine and of Lily's Pokémon sat at the Center, trying to make a plan. The police had been informed and sent out an alert, but they were as slow as usual in forming a rescue squad. Lily had found this unacceptable and decided to strike on her own, with John's and Blaine's help of course. She petted Snap as Blaine attempted to contact Prof. Oak.

"It'll take time," Blaine informed her, "Do you have something to keep yourself busy so you don't burn a hole in the screen from glaring at it?"

"I'll try to narrow the search."

"How?" John asked, "They could be anywhere!"

"Remember Dan?"

"How could I forget that girlfriend stealer?"

"I suspect he and his partner are still on the island. They weren't with the invasion force. Maybe I could get Dan to let something slip out. You might have to distract Joe."

"Who? How many guys are you collecting?" SLAP!

"Never mind."

Ty finally decided to speak after they had tried (and failed) to drill answers out of his head by interrogation. Neither one of them scared him, nor was he going to betray his teammates.

"Didn't I see you at the Cerulean Gym? Oh yeah, Lily blew you away before you could say your motto! You're Cassidy and he's Hutch!" The guy nearly fell over.

"What's with you people and my name?"

"Where are my Pokémon? What have you done with them?"

"They're still safe," Cassidy replied, "You should be more worried about yourself. You've stepped on a few toes around here. Needless to say, they're not too happy about it."

"I can't please everyone!" SLAP!

"Have some respect for your elders, kid. I always thought you were the gentleman type."

_Not around Rockets!_ "Where am I?"

"Like we're going to tell you. Face it, kid, you're going to be here for a while." Ty looked darkly at Butch.

"Not if Lily has anything to say about it!" Both Rockets laughed.

"That loser of a trainer? She had to rely on another looser sot fly her up to the volcano!"

"It was her Bulbasaur that made your whole team fall asleep."

"Shut up!"

"Aw, are you upset that a breeder knocked you out?"

"Come on, Butch! We're not going to stand around and be insulted by a twerp!" They left. Ty smiled, finally knowing why Lily and John loved to annoy other people.

John, Lily, and Blaze flew around the island. They eventually spotted Joe trying to pull Dan from a hollow log. They landed a distance away.

"Stay here," Lily ordered John, "I don't want you ruining our chances of finding Ty. Blaze, come." They both slid off Charizard. "Hello boys." Joe let go of Dan for a moment before grabbing him again.

"I told you that the truce was temporary! After I get fatty out…"

"Hey!"

"… We have to battle."

"That's fine. If I win, will you tell me where your team took Ty?"

"I have no idea. We had nothing to do with it." Dan popped out of the log. Lily called forth Blaze to battle. Joe casually threw a ball out. A Flygon came out of it.

"I didn't know you had a Flygon."

"Do you seriously think we walked everywhere while following you?"

Ty sat in the dark room, trying to find a logical way to escape and rescue his Pokémon. _This would be easier if I had Lily here to bounce ideas off of. I should've taken those self- defense lessons from Bruno, but no! I had to go to that battle tournament! I can be so stupid sometime. What's taking them so long? I want out of here! I need to get my interview with Blaine! We have to get to Pallet before Lily's birthday! Oh no, I haven't gotten her anything yet!_ The door opened, interrupting his thoughts. Only one person entered the room.

"Hello, Tyler!" Ty shrank in the ropes, trying to get away. Of all the times he had met this person, he hadn't feared him until now.

"Trapper! I thought I smelled a Skuntank!" He received a punch in the jaw, knocking him down to the floor. He felt a trickle of blood come from his lip. Trapper grabbed the ropes and set him back up.

"What now? There's no one to bail you out this time. I have you all to myself."

"Is it's a fight you want, then untie me!"

"Why? I think this is a lot more fun."

Dan, John, and Charizard watched the two battle with their Pokémon. Dan mourned the fact that she could beat him flat out and not Joe, while John wondered if he should challenge Dan.

"Fire Tackle!"

"Use…!" A gear rang. John pulled it out of his Pocket and answered it, nodding. He hung up.

"He's got it!"

"We'll finish this later," Lily told Joe, "I have more important things to take care of." She, Blaze, and John got onto Charizard and took off. Joe returned his Flygon.

"Keep away from my girl," Dan growled, "The last thing I need is more competition."

Ty groaned. The last few minutes had been harrowing, with Trapper beating on him like a punching bag. He almost blacked out a couple of times. He was about to be hit again when the door opened.

"Admin Trapper, you have a call from the Boss!" He smirked at Ty.

"If you'll excuse me, we'll do more of this later."

"I can hardly wait."

"Leave the sarcasm to Ms. Kline; she's much better at it." He left him alone. Ty wished he could wipe the blood from his nose and lip off his face. His legs felt like jelly and he couldn't get them to stand. If he was this bad off, he could only imagine his poor Pokémon. He wanted out of there.

_Lily, please hurry…_

He fell over and blacked out.

"You just connect this wire from your Dex to the Nav and you'll be able to pinpoint his location," Blaine explained, "I set it to ID tracking, so it will only track his. How many can Charizard carry?"

"He can carry three trainers and a Growlithe." Lily came down, ready for action.

"Let's go. Once we get there, we have to figure out how to sneak in. Blaine, will you be alright without your Pokémon?"

"I'll be fine! I'm not that old!" They went outside and mounted.

"Everybody ready to rescue Ty?" she asked. All of them nodded.

"Onto Tyler My Tomato!

"It's Miyamato," John corrected.

"I knew that…"


	19. Rescue

Outside of the Rocket base, Lily, Blaine, and John observed the guards' movements from the security of some bushes. She had called out Snap, figuring they could use his help.

"We need a distraction that will keep their attention long enough for us to sneak in unnoticed."

"Who do we send?" Both she and Blaine eyed John.

"Not me!"

"I've got to retrieve Ty and his Pokémon and Blaine has to get his own Pokémon. You're the odd one out."

"Fine, what do I do?"

"Just be yourself, that's pretty distracting."

"Ha ha." He stepped out into the opening.

"Yo, how's it going?" Lily smacked her forehead, having the feeling that he just blew their chances of sneaking inside. Luckily, it seemed as though whoever programmed his brain also programmed the two guards, seeing as how they stepped away from their posts. The group began slowly going to the entrance.

"What are you doing here?"

"I just got separated from my friends. I thought you might have seen them." Lily gave him the thumbs up, right before they slipped in. "I better go and see if I can find them," A guard grabbed him.

"You're trespassing on Rocket territory," He dragged him inside.

Lily carefully removed the vent cover, allowing everybody in front of her. Blaine could barely contain his excitement as they crawled through the ventilation system.

"I feel young again!"

"Sh!"

"Sorry!" Blaze sniffed around before heading a certain direction. Everybody faithfully followed him as he tracked around. He finally stopped at a cover and quietly whimpered. They gathered around and looked down. "My Poke balls!"

"Go get them and meet us outside. Will you be alright alone?"

"I'll be fine. You go rescue your friend and don't worry about me." Snap gently lowered him down to the floor before they moved on. They came to a crossroad, before going right. Blaze seemed to be hot on the trail.

_Hang on Ty, we're coming!_

Ty had been untied and moved to a different room. Once again, he found himself alone. He spied a vent. He backed up and took a running start. He jumped, but found himself a few inches too short to reach it. The door opened and a familiar face was shoved in. It grinned at him.

"Ty, we've been looking for you!"

"John, how did you get captured? Is Lily alright?"

"My lost boy ploy didn't distract them in the way it was supposed to. I think they're even more alert right now. As for Lily and Blaine, they're fine. They're somewhere in the vents."

"You had Pokémon. Why didn't you just challenge the guards to a battle? If you had won, they would've run off!" He frowned.

"I didn't think about it."

"Lend me your shoulders." His rival gave him a confused expression.

"What are you talking about?"

"I need to stand on your shoulders so I can reach the vent. We can climb out, rendezvous with the others, find our Pokémon, and get out of here." John stood against the wall while Ty climbed onto him. He gripped his ankles, swaying.

"Hurry up, you're heavy!"

"Stay still and shut your mouth! We've got to do this quietly if we don't want to…"

"If you don't want to what, get caught trying to escape? It's a little late for that." John nearly dropped Ty. He fell over, taking him to the ground with him.

Blaze stopped at another opening. Lily looked down to see Ty's stuff. She was about to celebrate when a Grunt came in, carrying another belt with balls. The Grunt left.

_Great, we have to rescue John now!_

"Snap, I need you to lower me down." He was happy to do so. She inspected the balls, pressing the button on a couple of them. Scizor and Gengar came out. "Hey guys! Listen, we've got to rescue Ty so we need to stay quiet. Gengar, will you please scout ahead and see if you can find him? Scizor, I would appreciate it if you came with me. Also, be on the lookout for John." Scizor wondered if they had too. Snap lifted her and the stuff back up. "Let's go!"

Gengar floated away. Blaze began examining the vents and broke into a run. Further along, Scizor began feeling cramp, and then remembered that he had grown in size. Blaze skidded to a stop and pointed down. They both looked down.

"Boy, you can sure pick them," John commented, "First Lily, then Erika, and now a female fatale; I never suspected that you were a player."

"Shut it, John. You can have Domino. I don't want her." Domino sighed.

"I guess you're still sore about what happened at the SS Enna. I don't blame you. Don't look so worried, I've moved past you, even though you're still pretty cute."

"Good, you're too old for me. Your team kidnapped me before I could finish my battle. I don't really appreciate that. What do you want?"

"I have a few questions that need to be answered. I think you'd rather have me ask them than Admin Trapper."

"Who's Trapper?" John asked, "And doesn't anybody care about me?" Nobody acknowledged him. Gengar came through the wall and tapped him on the shoulder. He placed his claw over his mouth to prevent him from yelling out in shock. He motioned up to the vents. John nodded, semi-getting what the ghost meant. Snap brought him up silently. Lily tried to figure out how to distract Domino and get Ty out of there.

"Gengar, get her attention with one of your practical jokes. Scizor, you rush in there and get him before she knows what happened. Meet us outside." They both nodded. Blaze lead the way out.

"What about Ty?"

"Scizor's got him. Here, you might need this." She threw him his belt. He put it on.

"Thanks. How are we getting back to Cinnabar?"

"By air and sea. We'll swim out on Oro and then catch a ride on your Pokémon or his."

"That sounds good. Id it just me, or is it getting hot?" Lily wiped some sweat off her brow.

"It is." She looked back to see Scizor, Gengar, and Ty being pursued by a giant fireball. John zipped past her. Snap grabbed his shirt and rode him out. He then reached back and threw Lily and Blaze out. Gengar pushed Scizor forward, nearly getting his tail scorched. John recovered from the fall.

"I live!" Scizor landed on top of him and put down Ty. Gengar came out just before the fire ball did. Lily proceeded to glomp Ty. She handed him his team.

"Ty, you're alive. Ugh, what happened to your face?"

"Yeah dude," John commented, "I couldn't see it well in that cell. What ran over you?"

"It's my first beat up courtesy of your not so neighborhoods friendly Rocket Admin Trapper. I'm not going to be able to hide this from my parents."

"Let's blow this joint! Zenith, Sandstorm! Oro, let's rock and roll!" They both came out. Blaine ran up with his Poke balls in hand.

"Hurry!" They all hopped onto Oro, who dove into the nearest waterway. Zenith covered their escape, only leaving sand to hint to the Rockets that they were gone. On Oro, Ty relaxed enough to where he actually fell asleep. Lily gently put a jacket under his head, figuring he could use some fuzzy therapy after his ordeal.

_Sleep well, you deserve a rest._


	20. Epilouge

The gang took a couple of days to rest on Cinnabar. Ty had gotten his interview. John moved onto Viridian, his home city. Dan and Joe were slinking somewhere on the island, out of sight. Ty and Lily sat in the Center, having lunch before the headed back to Pallet.

"Thanks for coming after me."

"You're welcome for the fiftieth time, Ty."

"I expected you to come in guns blazing."

"Hey, traveling with a guy who can take hours on a chess game teaches you about patience and strategy. What did they want with you?"

"I'm not exactly sure. We'll probably never truly know."

"I don't think I want to know. Are you going for the gym in Viridian?"

"No, nobody's ever talked to that gym leader. He keeps leaving and coming back."

"That sounds a little fishy to me. I bet he's a mob boss or something." Ty chuckled.

"You and your conspiracy theories never cease to amuse me."

"What should I do with the Master Ball Trapper so kindly gave me?"

"I don't know. Give it to Prof. Oak when we get back to Pallet."

"What are we going to do now that we've trekked through Kanto?"

"I figured that we would stay in Pallet for a while. The paper's probably going to send me to Sinnoh, unless something big happens here." Lily raised her glass.

"A toast to future adventures!"

"Annoying rivals!"

"Stalkers!"

"New friends!"

"Old friends!"

"To the wonderful world of…"

"Pokémon!" They clinked their glasses together and drank up, casting glances out the window.

Unknown to the two teens celebrating their victory over Team Rocket, a plot was stirring. The initial plan had fallen apart at the seam, but he could adjust. The man stroked the Persian in his lap.

"I think I underestimated Mr. Miyamato, a mistake I won't make twice. Then there's Charles Kline's offspring. I should've known she would mess things up. She might look like her mother, but she's a clone of her father. We'll have to step up our game." He turned the chair to face the window. "What better way to set a trap for a battle Strategist than a battle tournament?No doubt his little friend will be suspicious, but she'll come along to make sure he doesn't get in over his head. But they'll both find themselves over their heads once the plan is set in motion." He chuckled to himself.

"There'll be complete obliteration of all who defy me. I am Giovanni of Team Rocket, and I will get Tyler Miyamato."


End file.
